Healing Flames reboot
by britanic66
Summary: One man's desire for revenge changes many things in the Elemental nations. This is a Naruto AU. Some elements/lines of my former story have been incorporated into this one.
1. Chapter 1 Beginners Luck

I do not own any of the characters in this story, except my original characters, nor the world where this story resides.

 _Thoughts_

 _(Authors notes)_

*beep* = Obscene/offensive language

Beginners Luck

CH. 1

~Approximately 8 years ago,

On a mysterious planet, far, far away~

A very tall bald man wearing a red cape, a type of gold scale armor and a red skirt stares into the cosmos. He has visions of a sea of blood, an all-consuming white fire, and a silver creature struggling to live on a dead husk of a planet, before it eventually succumbs to starvation.

Aron shakes his head, trying to remove the visions from his memory.

 _"Does it have to be thus?"_ He ponders as he continues scanning the cosmos. He smiles as a kernel of a plan sprouts in his mind, _"I'll need help with the first part of the plan, if it is going to succeed."_ He snaps his fingers as he turns around, and suddenly he is in an underground corridor, standing before an enormous iron door. _"I hope Loki is in a good mood."_

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~Now~

"Okaa-san…" a slender seven year old girl with black short hair called out as she came running up from behind Tsunade as she was walking to the casino.

"Mito…" Tsunade asks watching the little girl approach her, who is wearing a grey short-sleeved shirt and black cargo shorts, "Where is Shizune, and why are you not with her training?"

"I'm tired of running up and down trees, or floating leaves on my hands and feet. You said I could be with you today," Mito said with a sad puppy look on her face.

"I did, did I? Well, stay out of the way, I'm going to try to win some money."

"Good luck with that," Mito said under her breath.

"What did you say," Tsunade demanded as she glared at Mito.

"Nothing… I was merely wishing you good luck. So that you would win lots of money," Mito said with an angelic look on her face.

"Yeah right…" Tsunade said, as she stomped her way to the casino with Mito tagging along behind her.

"Okaa-san…"

"Yes, Mito…?"

"Why is onee-chan so sad today?"

"Today is the second anniversary of the day she lost her precious one."

"My meigosan…?"

"Yes…we miss her."

They continued walking in silence.

Eventually, they walked to a small dingy little building. People of all sorts were either hanging out outside of the building, or going in and out of it. Some of the people noticed Tsunade and her daughter, but they only greeted Mito.

"Oi, Aiko-chan… how are you doing?" called out a little old man, who each morning, sat playing his Shime-daiko by the casino entrance (AN: _Some people address Mito as Aiko, it's a nickname. It means love child or little loved one. People are still trying to figure out the identity of Mito's Father._ )

"Oh… I'm fine oji-san," Mito said with a bow. "I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now, abayo," she said with a small wave as she rushed to catch up with Tsunade.

When Mito finally caught up with Tsunade, she was already sitting at a table playing a game of cards.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Mito whispered in Tsunade's ear as she was about to exchange some cards.

"Nani…?" (AN: _She doesn't realize that Mito has been paying attention to the rules of the game since she first started tagging along with Tsunade._ )

"I would exchange this one instead," she whispered as she pointed to one of the cards in Tsunade's hand.

"Oi… who's playing this game anyways?" the Dealer asked as Tsunade thought about Mito's suggestion.

"Shut up… I'm her Sensei," Tsunade barked at the dealer. " _Well, it wouldn't hurt to try her suggestion_ ," she thought as she laid down that particular card and asked for another.

After that, everyone took their turn and placed their bets. Then it was the decisive moment, as everyone started to reveal their hand.

"Nani…" the dealer said in hushed tones as Tsunade revealed her hand.

Tsunade just sat there waiting for the winner to pick up his winnings, but nobody did. All of the other players just sat there and scowled at her.

"Okasan… pick up the money… you won," Mito says as she bumps Tsunade's side with her elbow.

"I did?" the bewildered Tsunade asks with wide eyes.

"I cannot believe I'm saying this… but… you won," the Dealer said with a smirk.

"Um, thank you," Tsunade mutters to the dealer as she bows, gathers her winnings and leaves with Mito trailing behind her.

"What is the matter okaa-san?" Mito asks as she follows Tsunade back to their rooms at the inn.

Tsunade doesn't answer Mito as she sullenly returns to their suite.

"You're back early," Shizune says as she folds and repacks their laundry. Tsunade just grunts in reply as she goes into her room and slams the door behind her.

"Why is okaa-san mad?" Mito asks as she stands there looking like a kicked puppy.

"Tell me what happened," Shizune said with a sigh as she sits down, and allows Mito to climb into her lap after she sets aside the laundry that she is holding.

In a bewildered tone, Mito tells Shizune about Tsunade winning a hand of cards at the casino.

"I was afraid something like this may happen," Shizune said as she looks into Mito's eyes, "when I saw her, last night, giving you her grandfather's necklace as a birthday present."

"Was that bad?"

"No, hime, it was good that she gave it to you, but she doesn't feel like she deserves to be happy. She feels that whenever something good happens in her life that something bad will also happen."

"Oh," Mito whispers as she nuzzles up against Shizune and rubs the stone in her tiny hand.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 _"Why did I give her that necklace?"_ Tsunade frets as she paces about in the room. _"Damn you_ _Jiraiya… why couldn't you have kept it in your pants?"_ Tsunade curses as she thinks of Mito's parentage.

Tsunade walks over to her private stock of sake, and pours herself a shot as she remembers the night of about five years ago.

~Flashback~

In a dark room is a lone woman crying as she sits at a table clutching a bottle in her right hand.

 _"He's gone… I can't believe he's really gone,"_ thought the woman as she chugged down more of the sake from the bottle. _"First Nawaki, then Dan…?"_

The woman finished the bottle and then shattered it against the far wall. A blinding light suddenly appeared in front of her as she was about to stand up to fetch another bottle. As the light slowly dimmed, the crying woman noticed that the light was taking the form of a blond haired blue-eyed short woman with fox ears wearing a white Kimono with a red obi. Tsunade momentarily stares at the Kami that has been worshiped by her family since Obaa-san Mito Uzumaki. She has been Tsunade's bosom friend since childhood.

"What do you want Inari?" demanded the crying woman with a start, as she stood up.

"Sit down and shut up Tsunade," the woman said with such authority that Tsunade did just that. "I have much to tell you."

~Flashback pauses~

 _"Jiraiya…Of all the people… you had to get drunk and impregnate a Kami,"_ Tsunade bitterly thought to herself, _"I still don't know why she thought I would do a better job of raising Mito, instead of you."_

~Flashback continues~

"Jiraiya of the legendary Sennin of Konohagakure, also known as Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki, is the father of a daughter…our daughter."

"Jiraiya huh… who'd have thunk it," Tsunade chuckles at Inari's expense, "So why have you visited me," Tsunade asked as politely as she could.

"I noticed that you were in mourning for lost family members and I wanted to give you something to comfort and bless you."

"Really…" Tsunade whispered as she looked around for a gift of some kind.

"Really…" Inari replied as she motioned with her hand at a bundle of cloth that was lying in a basket that was suddenly sitting on the table. "I am letting you raise my daughter as your own, Tsunade… raise her well for I will be expecting much from you," Inari warned as she disappeared.

Tsunade stood up and peered into the basket to see a small baby wrapped in swaddling clothes sucking its thumb. As Tsunade examines her, she notices that the baby has very pale skin and that she has a prominent black spot, which is encircling her left eye. Tsunade saw and began to feel the baby's small tuft of black hair.

"Heh… I think my obaa-san would find you to be a cute baby… hmm… I think I'm going to name you after her… Mito… yeah, she'd be honored that I named you after her."

After checking Mito's omutsu, Tsunade staggered to bed.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~the same night~

As Tsunade slept, in her mind, she finds herself sitting and crying in front of Dan's grave.

"Why did the village have to take you away from me?" Tsunade sobs as she stares at his grave marker.

"Do you love me?" a disembodied voice whispers in her ear.

"You know that I love you."

"Did you believe me, when I said that I love you?"

"Yes."

"Do you cherish our time together?"

"…With all of my heart."

"Then why do you not fight for the village, as I fought for the village?"

"No, it was their fault that you…"

"If we meant anything to you… you must forgive them. Just as I would forgive them if you had left before me."

"But I…"

"Are you lying to me about your love for me?"

"No…never!"

"Then forgive them, so that you may love again," Dan said as his spirit, which was sitting right next to her, fades away.

Tsunade thrashes about in her bed, as she continues her restless sleep.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The blinding light of the morning sun pours thru the motel room window. In the distance, she can hear the sound of waves and the beating of a drum. Is this paradise? No, it isn't paradise, just another hung over morning for Tsunade.

 _"Why is the sunlight so loud this morning?"_ Tsunade thought as she started to regain consciousness. Slowly she sat up in bed and saw Shizune sitting at the room's table, feeding a baby with a bottle. "Who is that and why is that brat in my room?"

"Good morning, Lady Tsunade," Shizune said in a hushed tone, "I am feeding the daughter that Kami had given you last night. Kami too visited me and she suggested that I help you care for your daughter. This is a good thing since you were in no condition to care for the baby last night."

 _~Shizune's FLASHBACK~_

 _Shizune is packing her scrolls to prepare to leave the motel in the morning, when a bright light suddenly appeared in her room before coalescing into the shape of a_ _blond haired blue-eyed short woman with fox ears wearing a white Kimono with a red obi._

 _"Who are you," Shizune said in a frightened voice._

 _"I am Inari, a Kami, and I have come to tell you that your sensei has been given a chance to- redeem herself- I have given her a daughter. I want you to help care for her… go… Tsunade is in no condition to take care of the child right now," she said as she disappears._

 _Shizune lowers her head and ponders the responsibility that Kami had just given her._

 _"Typical," Shizune mutters to herself._

 _~End of Shizune's FLASHBACK~_

As the memories of the previous night slowly seeped into her brain, Tsunade got up with a grunt and walks over to sit at the table to the right of Shizune.

"It really happened then… Well, I named her Mito after my obaa-san. I think she would be a good opportunity for you to grow as a Kunoichi. I want you to take care of Mito and train her as well," she said as she stood up. "Don't worry; I'll assist you when I can. Well… hurry up, finish, and get ready to leave, while I go find a victim… ahem… someone lucky enough to loan me some money and we'll leave this place in the dust," Tsunade said as she left the room.

"I guess, it's just you and me kid," Shizune said as she looks down at Mito, as she suckles from the bottle.

~End flashback~

 _"Yeah, Jiraiya would have been a much better choice than I…,"_ Tsunade thought to herself as she sat on her bed with the bottle in one hand, and the shot glass in the other.

As she is about to pour herself another shot, she notices a picture that Mito had drawn, hanging in a frame on the wall.

"To the best Okaa-san in the world," it stated in large letters over a drawing of Tsunade punching some idiot who thought it was ok for him to push Mito out of his way. It was a very crudely drawn picture, but it is one of Tsunade's most beloved treasures.

 _"What am I thinking,"_ Tsunade suddenly thought, _"Jiraiya has trouble taking care of himself, much less a daughter. Hey, I even cut back on my drinking,"_ she thought as she corks the bottle and notices the amount left in it.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Shizune had just left the sitting room to put away the clothes, when Tsunade enters and notices Mito sitting on the floor drawing another picture.

 _"What am I afraid of?"_ Tsunade thought as she looks at Mito, _"Nothing's going to happen."_

"Are you feeling better okaa-san?"

"Yes, much better. How about we go back to the casino and show them how winners do it," Tsunade said with a chuckle.

"Yea," Mito shouts as she jumps up and takes Tsunade's hand.

 _"You never know… if we win enough I might even be able to repay all of those debts that I am running away from,"_ Tsunade thought as they walk out of the suite's door.


	2. Chapter 2 Unexpected Visitors

I do not own any of the characters in this story, except my original characters, nor the world where this story resides.

 _Thoughts_

 _(AN: Author's notes)_

*beep* = Obscene/offensive language

Unexpected Visitors

Ch 2

~A year later~

It's been quite the year for Tsunade and for the gambling dens that she and Mito have been visiting. The wrecking crew, as the clubs has been calling the duo, has been going from gambling dens to the casino and back again, due to their remarkable winning streak. She has been doing this because she was having a hard time finding a game to join from word getting around about her winning so much money (some players suspect cheating, but they have no evidence of it). It's late in the morning when our plucky trio arrives at their next motel.

"Go check in and be sure to check out the room first… I don't want any surprises like last time," Tsunade reminded.

"Hey, how was I to know that one of the losers, from one of your last card games, had an ototo who worked there?"

"Yeah, okaa-san how would onee-chan know that man was outside of the Inn hot springs waiting for you to take your bath?" Mito argued.

"… The banner that they had up at the entrance should have been our first clue… 'Village welcomes Tsunade-sama'… bah… I hate peepers, but selling tickets for the opportunity to peep at me as if I was a movie… well… that was the last straw," Tsunade bellowed.

"Well, at least we were able find and convince Jiraiya (he was one of the ticket holders) to place the seals we wanted on Mito," consoled Shizune.

"Yeah… put them on me or die… that's an offer that is hard to refuse," added Mito.

 _~FLASHBACK~_

 _In the motel room, Jiraiya is placing seals on both of Mito's forearms, while Tsunade watches._

 _"Thank you for your help_ _otô-san," Mito said, "I thought I would never meet you."_

 _Jiraiya continues his work in stunned silence._

 _"What makes you think_ _he_ _is your otô-san," Tsunade growls._

 _"Well… that's what everyone thinks and I think that's why you are so angry with him… for leaving you while you were with child," Mito stubbornly pouts as she replies with an angelic look on her face._

 _"Nani…?" Tsunade mumbles as she sweat drops._

 _"I'm happy to be of help musume," Jiraiya whispers as he hesitantly looks over for Tsunade's reaction._

 _"Whatever," mutters Tsunade, as she stomps into her bedroom and closes the door._

 _"Musume, you're going to be the death of me," chuckles Jiraiya as he shakes his head, after he had paused moment to be sure that she is not about to come back; "So what specialty are you seeking?"_

 _"I want to be a medic."_

 _"Why a medic, I thought you were interested in being a Kunoichi?"_

 _"That is still my goal. I'm just picking Combat Medic as my Kunoichi specialty."_

 _"You did what?" yells Tsunade from her bedroom._

 _Jiraiya and Mito look at each in stunned silence for a moment._

 _Just as Mito is about to ask her_ _otô-san, if he knew the reason for her_ _okaa-san's outburst, Tsunade suddenly emerges from her room, and walks over to the table to grab a bottle of sake and a shot glass._

" _Is everything alri…" Jiraiya starts to ask just before receiving a death glare from Tsunade that kills the question in his mouth._

 _Tsunade just continues glaring at Jiraiya as she reenters her bedroom and slams the door shut behind her._

" _So, what do you need these seals for anyways?"Jiraiya asks, as he tries to resume the conversation."_

 _"Shizune thought I should get them to be able to get to my Senbon needles and Kunais faster," replied Mito._

 _"Keep this up and you'll end up just like your okaa-san."_

 _"Oh, you say the sweetest things_ _otô-san," Mito whispers while batting her eyes._

 _~END FLASHBACK~_

"Ah…good times," Mito thought with a sigh, as she ignored Tsunade berating Shizune.

"Just check the room," Tsunade warned as she was walking away, "I'm going to check the nearest bar for alcohol bottling violations."

"Mito, go practice your water walking, while I go check out the room," Shizune said while pointing to a nearby pond.

"Yes, Nee-chan," Mito said as she ran towards the pond.

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As Tsunade sits at a table sipping some Sake, (she's been trying to cut back, since Mito has come into her life) she ponders her streak of good luck.

 _"Things have been going too good for too long_ ," Tsunade frets, _"I have the feeling that something is about to happen, but what and when?"_

A little boy runs up to Tsunade, hands her a note, and runs away before she can ask who sent the note. Tsunade's heart is beating wildly as opens and reads the sealed scroll.

Ishidoh Yoshitakasan

requests the pleasure of the company

of Senju Tsunade Denka

to take part in a Tea ceremony

to be held at the

White Lotus House

tonight at sunset.

Please respond by messenger in care of the Black Orchid Inn.

 _"Yoshi… what is he doing in the village?"_ Tsunade thought as she reread the invitation to tea. Her mind wanders as she tries to recall the last time she saw him. _"Huh, the last time we talked was in Konoha… a long time ago."_

Suddenly, she does recall their last conversation… it was at the village clinic where she was informed of her fiancé's demise. Yoshi had told her how he had been out getting wood for his Sensei, (AN: _Yoshi was apprenticed to the village blacksmith_ ) when he heard the sounds of a battle in the distance. As he arrived to the battle scene, he noticed Dan, lying on the ground, gravely wounded. Despite being a civilian and the possibility of the battlefield readjusting, therefore putting Yoshi in danger, he picked up Dan and carried him to the village clinic.

 _"He kept apologizing to me for failing in his rescue attempt of Dan,"_ Tsunade recalls, _"I had to remind him that I owed him for his service to my fiancé. I wonder why he has turned up now of all times? Oh, Kami…"_ Tsunade thought as she realized that she needed to return to her suite to properly dress for the tea ceremony. Before leaving for her suite, she sent a note to Yoshi to tell him that she is accepting his gracious invitation to tea.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 _"What's taking her so long,"_ Shizune thought, as she walks out of Mito's room, after putting her to bed.

It has been hours since Tsunade had shown up at the suite to change into her kimono for a tea ceremony. Just when Shizune thought her head would burst from impatience, Tsunade walks in with a black haired young girl with an Odango style haircut, who is wearing a pink sleeveless blouse with green pants.

"Who's that?" Shizune asks as she walks up to Tsunade.

"I'll explain in a moment," Tsunade answers. "Could you put her in the spare bed in Mito's room? I need a drink first, before I answer any questions," Tsunade retorts as she goes to her room to fetch her bottle of Sake.

By the time, Shizune had put the girl to bed, and returned; Tsunade is sitting at the table and has poured herself her third shot.

"So who is that?" Shizune asks as she sits down.

"My past…,"Tsunade said with a grimace, "it's come back to bite me in the butt."

"So you have another daughter?"

"No," Tsunade said with a chuckle as she rolled her eyes, "Long ago, Yoshi tried to save Dan's life, but even though he failed, I am honor bound to repay this debt."

"So?"

"About seven years ago, an orphaned female toddler was found in the ruins of a home near Konoha. The village council gave the task of raising her to Yoshi. He named her Tenten. About a month ago, she was found in the basement of a demolished home of a missing scientist, Shirō Ishii… yeah… you know Doctor Ishii, the guy who invented the soldier pills, among other things. The investigating Anbu concluded that an unknown party kidnapped the scientist. When they kidnapped the scientist about a year ago, his home was demolished in the process."

"Are you saying that Tenten was trapped in the basement of this house for about a year?"

"She was found with the remains of two males, who were later identified as the two local delivery boys who were declared missing. They also found the remains of the scientist's mother in the basement with Tenten. The people who rescued her said that she was found muttering to herself incoherently, they also state in their report that Tenten must have lived off of the remains of the three deceased people."

"Poor girl," Shizune said in a mournful tone, "so why is she here?"

"The Hokage thought that I, with my medic experience, would be Tenten's best hope of having any sort of recovery. Therefore, he contacted Yoshi, since the Hokage knew that I was indebted to him."

"So what are we going to do?" Shizune asks as she opens the bedroom door to check on the girls before quietly shutting it.

"I am going to raise, and train her along side of Mito," Tsunade said with a nod of her head, "I'll treat her like she's just another daughter."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

After the door shut, the sound of Tenten's muffled crying breaks the silence of the room.

"Are you ok?" Mito whispers to the other girl.

The little girl just nods her head.

"Hi, my name is Mito," she said as she tiptoed across the room, "what's your name?"

"He calls me his own…," she very softly sings as she sobs and hears his words once again echo in her mind _'…found eating dead people… she is no daughter of mine.'_ "I mean… He called me Tenten."

Hearing the anguish in the girl's voice, Mito tries a different tactic. "My bed isn't very comfortable," she replies, then asks as she visibly shivers, "would you mind sharing your bed with me?"

Tenten looks up at the older girl (AN: _by one year.)_ and shakes her head as she scoots over to make room for Mito.

As soon as Mito climbs into the bed, Tenten grabs hold of her and holds on as if her life depends on it. Mito merely sighs and allows Tenten to hug her as she listens to Tenten fall asleep. Mito soon follows Tenten into the land of Nod.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~A year later~

Tsunade enters the local clinic, and spots Shizune finishes cleaning the examination room after the conclusion of Mito's final exam.

"How did she do?" Tsunade asks as she enters the room.

"I think she's learned all she is going to learn from us," says Shizune as she washes her hands.

"So, where is she?"

"Uh, Mito and Tenten took off after Mito's last supervised examination. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Tsunade said as she is leaving the room. "Don't forget Tenten is going by the name Hotaru now," she said over her shoulder before she closes the door.

"Oh yeah, thanks," Shizune says as she realizes her mistake.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 _"It's not fair,"_ Hotaru thought to herself as she mindlessly shuffles thru the village, kicking a stone every once in a while, _"I'm just as capable as Mito…just isn't fair."_

"Hey, you're not going on about not being able to go thru medic training again," Mito grumbles, "Kaa-san said that you have too much energy that replenishes way too fast. I can shape my chakra and control it in a more precise way than you can."

"But…"

"Onee-san," a little girl in a pink jumper calls out as she approaches them

"You know her?" Hotaru whispers to Mito as the girl is running up to them.

Mito merely shrugs.

"Please help my Ojii-san," the little girl says as she grabs their hands and drags them to a nearby alleyway.

"Get up old man," a voice yells out.

Mito and Hotaru hear voices and the sound of scuffling emanate from the alley. They silently walk up to the alley entrance and peer in.

" _Typical… it's the Yu Dao twins… Ozai and Iroh…the brothers are at it again_ ," Mito thought as she looks at Hotaru to see if she has any idea of what to do.

" _No… its_ _ojii-san… what should I do. What would Tsunade-san do?"_ Hotaru is thinking as she assumes a hero pose, standing with a straight back and her fists on her hips as she gazes into the sky at what she calls her away places, _"No… what would_ _Bumi_ _do?"_ (Far away in Konoha, Gai Sensei stops in his tracks, assumes a similar hero pose, and looks to the horizon as his hero senses tingle. "Must be a false alarm," he mutters with a shake of his head before he resumes walking.)

A cry of pain is heard ringing out as one of the brothers punches ojii-san in the face.

 _"Well, I better do something quick,"_ she thought as a plan starts formulating in her mind; she smirks as she nods her head at Mito, then leans over and whispers in her ear.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

DVD extra

Bonus Scene: Tsunade's bedroom.

Just as Tsunade closes the door behind her, she growls to herself.

"Otô-san this and otô-san that," she mutters to herself as she begins to pace back and forth in her room.

"One would think that her acknowledging her father would bring you happiness," a female voice said to the right of Tsunade.

"It would if I didn't know that the reason he is an otô-san is because he got busy with you," she accuses as she points her finger at Inari, "but when I see them, I get so frustrated at times."

"Don't you love her?" a bewildered Inari asks.

"I do, but when I see them like they are in the other room," Tsunade says in exasperation, "I feel like an outsider looking in…like I don't belong…that I'm a glorified babysitter… you're really her mother."

"Not exactly…uhm…remember that party that we threw about nine years ago, the night you blacked out and the next morning, you barely remember what happened…that party?"

"Is that the one where you invited that Sumo wrestler stripper?"

"No," Inari chuckles, "It's the party when we invited Jiraiya…"

"Yeah, on the condition that he brings several bottles of Kishimoto 72," Tsunade replies as she internally drools over her favorite dai ginjo sake."

"Well, you both got very drunk that night and …" Inari says to prompt Tsunade's memory.

"Hey you're the one who kept asking for Jiraiya and me to sing some folk songs to you."

"And…?"

"The last thing I remember is singing love songs with…Jiraiya," Tsunade hesitantly replies with a blush.

"I may have dared you to kiss Jiraiya," Inari blushes.

"You did what?" Tsunade yells as she faces Inari.

"I…," Inari begins only for Tsunade to interrupt her.

"Hold on," Tsunade said as she raises her palm towards her, "I think that I may need something wet to help me listen to this."

Tsunade leaves the room, and a moment later, returns with a bottle of sake and a shot glass. "You may continue," she says after she sat on her bed and took a shot from the bottle.

"In my defense, I only expected you to kiss the man," Inari replies in a huff, "I didn't think you two would get a room."

"You picked… of all the men in the world… you picked Jiraiya?"

"Hey, he can be very charming," Inari defensively said, "So the next morning, I altered his memory, so that he would think that the night before was a dream, and left him sleeping in his motel room and I left you asleep in your bed after I altered your memory."

"I always wondered about that night. Ok, so then what happened?"

"That night when you were asleep, I realized that you were pregnant. I felt guilty for putting you in that position…so I panicked," Inari explains.

"…"

"You're my Hime…I couldn't let you go through that so I decided to carry the child for you."

"It wasn't your decision," Tsunade retorts, "I'm an adult; I put myself in that position."

"I know," Inari guiltily replies, "after I examined myself, I discovered that the child was going to be stillborn… her body resided within me but without a soul."

"But… Mito…?"

"I'm getting to that part. For a time, I walked around my realm mourning for the child. One day I had a visitor, a fire Kami approached me from another realm, and she wanted help to fix a mistake she had made. In her wrath, she had accidently struck down a mortal and the fire Kami wanted to give the mortal a chance for a new life in my realm."

"…A fire Kami?"

"In her realm, she is a Kami of life and rebirth. She told me that, 'she had sensed my dilemma from her realm, and traveled far to speak to me'. She offered me the soul that was in her possession for my child. I quickly accepted her offer, and well you know the rest of the story."

"Is that why her looks differ from both of us?"

"Yes, when a soul takes over a body it alters the vessel's appearance so that the vessel will fit the soul."

"So is that why she has that bizarre streak of good luck…because she is your child?"

"Our child… I am her mother in spirit, while you are her mother in the flesh; and no, she got her streak of good luck from the Kami of luck. The Kami of luck blessed her with good luck as she resided within me."

"Which one… if memory serves… I believe there are seven of them."

"All of them... each one gave her a blessing."

Tsunade just sat there looking completely gobsmacked. After a moment, she finally spoke.

"So… she really is my daughter."

"Yes she is… so take care of my gift," she said as she fades away.

"I will," Tsunade tearfully said with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3 Getting to know you

I do not own any of the characters in this story, except my original characters, nor the world where this story resides.

 _Thoughts_

 _(Authors notes)_

 _ **Telepathy**_

Getting to know you…

Ch 3

"Help me," a gasping little girl covered in blood gurgles as she collapses in the opening of the alley.

" _What the…?"_ thought Iroh as he pins the old man's arms behind his back while his twin brother, Ozai, beats on him.

"Stay off our spot old man," Ozai growls as he get in the elder's face, "We can't gamble if we don't have any money and that's where we find the best customers for our _otô_ 's frozen pops. _If people are dumb enough to want to lick frozen frog secretions, who am I to complain_ ,"

"O…O…Ozai…" Iroh stutters as a roar interrupts him.

"Aaaaah," a teenage girl screams as she is thrown into the alley and lands a few yards away from them.

"What the hell is going on," Ozai says as he turns around and looks at the teen.

"Rawr," a huge bear like creature covered in white fur (AN: think the snow creature from The Empire strikes back.) roars as it enters the alley, stomps over to the teen, and proceeds to rip the arms off the now screaming teen, before beating her with them.

"Let's get out of here," Iroh yells as he drops the old man's arms and begins to pull on his brother's arm.

"But…" Ozai starts to say before the creature stops beating the now unconscious teen, and looks in their direction.

"I don't want to die," Iroh yells as he runs in the other direction, with his brother following at his heels.

A few minutes after the twin brothers run away, the creature, and the unconscious teen disappear in a puff of smoke, with the sound of two girls laughing coming from the shadows.

"Did you see them run?" Hotaru asks Mito as they walk towards the elderly man leaning against the wall.

"They were so scared," Mito says with a laugh, "I'm surprised that they didn't wet themselves before they ran away."

"Why didn't you fight them?" the elderly man asks with a groan as they approach.

"We wanted to ojii-san," Mito replies apologetically, "However, since we are trained as Kunoichi, the village council would frown upon the beating of civilians."

"No matter how much they may have deserved it," Hotaru adds with a chuckle, as she thinks about the Yu Dao twins.

"Then you both displayed discretion, restraint, as well as wisdom," the elder said as his injuries disappear while he slowly morphs into a diminutive, white haired elder.

"Ojii-san," Mito gasps, "is that really you?"

"Yes, it is I. Only now are you seeing my true self. Tsunade approached me earlier, asking me to train the two of you," He said while he eyes them critically as he casually leans on his gnarly cane, "I wanted to test you both first, to see if you are worthy of my attention. You may address me as Miyahara or Sensei, whichever you prefer; I, personally, do not care."

Mito, and Hotaru just stand there gobsmacked.

"Katsuo…" Miyahara calls to someone behind them, "Come here."

Mito and Hotaru watch as the little girl from before approaches him. Suddenly with a puff of smoke, a spiky silver shorthaired teenage girl replaces her. She appears to be their age and height.

"How did I do Sensei?" Katsuo asks after she resumes her true form.

"You did well. Now, go prepare lunch, we will be there shortly."

"Yes, Sensei," Katsuo replies before she shunshins away.

"Close your mouth," Miyahara replies as he looks at them again; "You are not a cod fish. Come, I have much to teach you," he said as he walks away.

"Yes, Yoda-san," Hotaru says under her breath. "Well, let's get this started," she said to Mito, who just stands there, "Don't tell me that short guy intimidates you?"

"I'm not afraid."

"Oh, you will be…you will be," Hotaru says with a cackle as she follows Miyahara.

Mito, merely shrugs her shoulders before she follows as well.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~A year later~

It is an hour before sunrise; Shizune looks in as she walks by the girls' bedroom. Mito and Hotaru are sitting almost perfectly still in the full lotus position, meditating. _"Boy, it's creepy when they do that,"_ Shizune thinks as sees a small muscle on the left side of Mito's nose twitch to the beat of some unknown song that the two of them are humming. Hotaru is making her right ear twitch to the same beat. _"I better go prepare breakfast, before Tsunade wakes up, and the girls finish up their meditation session, because they'll want to eat before their day's training,"_ Shizune thought as she starts walking towards the kitchen. "You're probably hungry too," she said to Tonton, who is following behind her.

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~A few hours later~

As Miyahara stands in his courtyard observing his gakusei do their kata with their Bokken, he notices that he has two visitors.

"It is a beautiful day, is it not?" Miyahara asks Tsunade and Shizune as he approaches them at the gate of his courtyard.

"It is indeed, Master Miyahara," Tsunade replies as they bow to each other; "How are my daughters faring?" asks Tsunade as she looks at her girls.

"They are doing very well," Miyahara replies as he walks over and stands next to Tsunade, "They have fully grasped some of the skills I have acquired in my travels."

A shiny green stone hanging from a leather cord suddenly pops out of the neckline of the teenage girl, who is doing her kata along side of Mito and Hotaru.

"Who is that other girl?" Shizune asks when the sudden movement of the necklace had caught her attention.

"Katsuo…oh, she's a girl that I had found wandering in the forest a few years ago," Miyahara offhandedly explains, "Supposedly, Orochimaru had kidnapped her along with a few other girls when they were two or three years old for some kind of experimentation, but something went wrong and his lab was destroyed in an explosion. She only escaped, because he thought the explosion had killed everyone within the building. During her escape, she searched the lab for any information about her identity and the location of her home or any living relatives. Besides the necklace that she remembers always wearing, the only leads that she could find were found in a file that held the name of this village, and that her mother was living in this village at the time of her abduction."

Shizune begins to feel mixed feelings of apprehension and excitement creep up her spine, as she listens to Miyahara's explanation, "So when did this… abduction occur?"

"Since she is seven now…" Miyahara murmurs as he does the math in his head; "And she has been with me for three years… taking in account the year that she was in Orochimaru's hands… I would say about four years ago. Oi…" he calls out as Shizune faints.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~Four years later~

 _"Orochimaru … where are you?"_ Kabuto wonders, ignoring his throbbing headache, as he searches thru his secret lair for his Lord, _"Where is Ishii? He's been acting strange for the last few weeks, ever since Hoshigaki left a message for Orochimaru that his absence from the Akatsuki will no longer be tolerated and this was his last warning."_

With every step, it feels as if some Kami is using Kabuto's head for his own personal drum.

"Orochimaru … are you in here?" Kabuto asks aloud as he enters Orochimaru's private quarters, _"Stupid Doctor and his weird experiments."_

"…"Kabuto is instantly on alert as he spots Orochimaru's desiccated corpse lying in the middle of his room in a pool of its own blood.

The room threatens to spin on its axis, as Kabuto feels blood begin to drip from his nose and ears.

"You don't look so good," Doctor Shirō Ishii, who suddenly appears at Kabuto's side, says comfortingly; "Here let me help you lie on this cot," he said as he leads Kabuto to a cot in the room, and helps him lie down.

"Who did this to me?" Kabuto gasps as his lungs begin to fill with blood.

"…"Doctor Ishii just gives him a bemused and sarcastic look. _"These ninja can be so stupid at times."_

"Well…" snaps Kabuto.

"What…did you think that I was going to be content to stay being your simpering slave for the rest of my life," growls Shirō; "You and Orochimaru were so arrogant, the two of you thought that you were untouchable," He says with a sarcastic laugh, "Now look at you…oh, how the mighty has fallen."

"What did you do to me?" Kabuto asks with a gurgling sound as Doctor Ishii arranges the pillow under his head.

"Oh I'm just granting your fondest wish… I'm helping you change the world."

Kabuto would have responded, if he wasn't too busy, drowning in his own blood.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Sitting on a boulder outside of the cave entrance that once was the secrete lair of Orochimaru, Shirō patiently waits as he pets a satchel hanging at his side.

 _"Soon my children, soon you will be able to feed,"_ he thought as he continues to pet his satchel, _"Kabuto and Orochimaru's sacrifice helped with your creation, but their chakra was not enough to finish in your birthing. Soon my precious..."_

"Doctor Ishii?" a man in a strange mask inquires.

"I am he," Shirō responds impatiently, since this stranger had interrupted his musings.

"I am Tobi… I was told to escort you. Where is Orochimaru…? I thought he would be here to speak to me."  
"He had to go away on business. He told me to wait here for you."

"Let's go than… We still have much to do," Tobi says as he motions in the direction that they are going to travel.

"You're right," Shirō replies with a sigh as he gets up and walks up to Tobi, "I do have a lot I still need to do."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

" _ **Wake up."**_

Pain and light greets Kabuto's eyes, as he opens them. _"Where am I? Why can't I move?"_

" _ **My siblings have left you a mess, my love, but don't worry. I'm here now."**_

" _Who are you?"_

" **We are Haibu."**

Kabuto, lying in his own filth, wonders what fate has in store for him now.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~7 months later~

Tsunade is once again in that dark empty corridor. Orochimaru is there waiting for her. _"No, I never should have given it to her,"_ she thought as she ignores the sound of dripping water, and watches Orochimaru reach into his coat to retrieve the necklace just as before.

"I couldn't stop her," Orochimaru begins to say. The dripping sound drowns out the rest of his words.

Tsunade tries to hear what Orochimaru is saying, but the sound of dripping just intensifies.

She looks down to see the blood covering her hands. _"Whose blood is this?"_ Tsunade wonders, when she realizes that it is Mito's blood. "Nooo," she wails plaintively.

"Nee-san…" Nawaki whispers from the dark, "Why are you crying?"

"I killed her just like I killed you," she moans.

"No, you did not kill either of us," he says to reassure her, "But if you do not overcome your fears, she will die."

 _"No,"_ she thought while light slowly begins to intrude into her eyes, as she begins to wake up.

As she wakes up, the sounds of the forest reminds her of the camping trip that she, Shizune, and the three girls had begun the day before. She sits up and stretches her arms and back, then smiles, as she smells the breakfast that Katsuo is preparing. _"It's nice to have someone who knows how to cook, when you go camping,"_ she thought with a big smile.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 _"Boy I'm glad Katsuo suggested that I go collect some herbs for the fish that she is serving tonight."_ Mito mentally thanks her cousin as she walks thru the woods. _"Okaa-san is starting to act weird again for some reason, and the sad expression that is on her face when she sneaks a look at me… well, it's starting to bug me,"_ she is thinking before she sees a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye. _"It's only a little girl,"_ she thought as she notices that the little girl, who is collecting herbs and mushrooms in a basket, is dressed in rags.

"Oi, hello, are you lost?" Mito asks as she starts to feel concerned about the little girl.

The little girl must not have noticed Mito, because when Mito calls out to her, the little girl jumps, and yelps in fright. Without warning, the little girl runs away.

"Come back, you don't need to be afraid," Mito says to reassure the little girl, but to no avail, because the little girl kept running."

Worrying for her safety, Mito follows the little girl.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~Meanwhile, back at the campsite~

"Hotaru, have you seen Mito?" asks Katsuo as she finishes prepping a fish, "I sent her off to gather herbs a couple of hours ago."

"I…" Hotaru starts to answer before Tsunade interrupts her.

"What do you mean?" asks Tsunade, as she stops her card game with Shizune, "Are you saying that she has not returned yet?"

"Well…" Katsuo starts to say.

"Katsuo, Hotaru… break camp," Tsunade orders, "Shizune, I want you to start tracking Mito. We'll catch up to you."

Shizune shunshins away to look for some trace of Mito's trail.

"Why couldn't I have some of Logan-hakase's other abilities," Hotaru whinges to the sky as Katsuo facepalms, "They would be most helpful right now."

"Why are you two just standing there," barks Tsunade, "Move it!"

The two girls start running around, and packing so quickly, they almost look like two of the three stooges on steroids.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

A few minutes later, Shizune is studying a potential trail, when Tsunade and the two girls arrive behind her.

"You find her trail?" Tsunade tentatively asks.

Shizune merely nods her head, and with a wave of her hand tells them to follow her.

They follow her… thru a meadow, then some woods, and finally to a cliff face that has an entranceway, that is composed of two stone posts and a lintel. There is something carved into the ancient stone lintel in a long forgotten language.

Shizune stops, looks at the entrance, then back at Tsunade for approval, before she proceeds thru the entrance.

Before Hotaru follows the others into the tunnel, she glances at the lintel. "Omnem dimittite spem, o vos intrantes…Abandon all hope, ye who enter here…" Hotaru says aloud, "Um… guys… I think that might have been a warning." She has to run to catch up with the others, since they aren't paying attention to her.


	4. Ch 4 They're coming to take me away

I do not own any of the characters in this story, except my original characters, nor the world where this story resides.

" _Thoughts"_

 _(Authors notes)_

" _ **Telepathy"**_

*beep* = Obscene/offensive language

They're coming to take me away ha-haaa

Ch 4

Mito is wandering around in some strange village, trying to find the little girl. She keeps knocking on the doors of various old shacks, but nobody is answering their door.

 _"Why isn't anybody answering their door,"_ she thought as she goes to another shack, _"I can hear them moving about, and whispering in there, but no answer, not even to tell me to go away, and leave them alone."_

"Hey, if you don't answer your door, I'll just have to break it down," Mito threatens the occupants of the next shack, in the hopes of getting a response.

"Please, don't…" somebody softly pleads thru the door, "We are a simple people."

"Just open the door and answer my questions, than I promise, I'll go away," Mito replies.

"Mito…" somebody shouts, "Where have you been?"

When Mito turns around to see her okaa-san and the others marching towards her, she thinks, _"oh boy, I think I might be in trouble._ Okaa-san, what are you guys doing here?"

"Mito, we have been looking for you everywhere," Tsunade growls as she walks up to Mito, "What is going on?"

Mito quickly explains the circumstances of her arrival to the village, "Then I followed her to this village, but I can't get anyone to open a door, so I can find out if she is alright."

"Nobody will answer the door will they?" Tsunade grumbles as she brushes past Mito. "Open this *beep* door," Tsunade yells as she pounds on the door with such a force that it shakes the whole shack as well as threatening to knock it down, "Before I force you to have to replace it."

"Please, come in and be quiet," a small young mother, who is holding a baby, says after she opens her door and looks both ways outside.

"You see Mito, you just had to ask nicely," Tsunade says as she enters, and the others follow her.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

A man in a dark brown robe, whose face is obscured by a raised cowl, says to his followers, "It is time…go fetch the …volunteers."

Dark shadows slip away into the darkness of the temple.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Tsunade and the others sit at a table, eating bowls of miso soup that the young mother had given them.

"So, Azumi, what you are trying to tell me is that there is not a little girl that matches that description in this village," asks Mito between mouthfuls of soup.

"There has never been a girl as you described living in the village," the young mother replies. "So if you would be so kind as to quickly finish eating and leave the village immediately," Azumi says in a scared tone, "I cannot promise your safety, if you do not leave before the setting sun."

"What are you trying not to tell us," Tsunade gently asks, "you need not fear for our safety… we are Kunoichi."

"…that will not be enough," Azumi said as she glances outside between the slats of the wood shutters of her closed window.

"Alright, victim number one… I mean ma'am, what's going on here?" Hotaru asks.

"It's too late…," she said with a deep sigh as she watches the sun go past the top of the cliffs that surround the village, "Every year on this night, young females go missing. We call this night… the night of the harvest."

"…and you delayed us because…?" Hotaru mumbles a little too loudly as she rolls her eyes, only to be elbowed by Katsuo.

"I asked you to leave earlier," Azumi protests. "But you insisted on staying to ask questions," she said as she stares at Mito.

"If it is so dangerous to live here…" Shizune asks, "Why doesn't anybody leave?"

"We cannot, because of this," Azumi answers as she raises her hair at the back of her neck and exposes the tattoo that is there, "A group of monks captured our ancestors and branded them with a seal so that they and all of their descendents would be forced to serve them…grow food for them. If we try to escape… once we go thru the outside gate in the cliff, our heads would explode."

"Wicked…" Hotaru says in a whisper.

"Who is threatening you?" Tsunade asks the question that everyone else is too afraid to ask.

"The Kage no sōryo (AN: Shadow monks), followers of the Shi sōryo (AN: Death monk)."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Dark shadows silently fly thru the treetops, not a word is said. They know what to do. They have done this many times before. They know that they are the only ones who can prevent the end of the world.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Tsunade and Shizune stand guard in the main room, while the three girls sleep in the bedroom. Azumi sits on the floor in the middle of the lit room clutching her sleeping child to her breast.

"It should be alright," Tsunade tries to reassure Shizune, "there is not another entrance to the bedroom. There isn't even a window."

Shizune merely nods, as she rechecks the level of the oil in the lit lamp.

As the house trembles slightly to the sound of a gust of wind, the lamp suddenly goes out.

After Shizune quickly relights the lamp, she looks around the room, and finds that nothing seems to have changed.

"I'm very sorry, but they are gone," Azumi says with a sob as she stands up.

Tsunade bursts into the bedroom, only to find empty beds. As if, they were never there.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Despite being drugged, gagged, and having her throat slit many times, Hotaru keeps loudly singing, "I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day. Spread my wings and fly away. I believe I can soar. I see me running thru that open door…"

"Why don't you just leave her?" one of the monks signals to the one carrying Hotaru.

"If you want to explain to Shi why we left one behind… then be my guest," he signals back, "I'll let him know that it was your idea."

The one, who gave the suggestion of leaving Hotaru behind, kept his thoughts to himself from then on as they continue traveling thru the treetops.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 _"Keep singing Hotaru,"_ thought Tsunade as she and Shizune, keeping track of the distant singing voice of Hotaru, pursue the kidnappers.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 _"Why is it so dark and cold in the room?"_ Katsuo thinks as the drug begins to wear off a little bit.

"Finally, you're awake, Kat," Hotaru grumbles behind her, "I was getting tired of just having the rats in this dungeon to talk to."

Kat tries to move her hands, but finds that she cannot since they are bound behind her back. "Can you cut these bonds?"

"I would, if I could, but they took all of our weapons," Hotaru bitterly complains, "They even took my crotch kunai."

Not wanting any elaboration on the crotch kunai statement, Kat didn't ask. "Is Mito conscious?"

"No, I think she is down for the count."

"I don't think I will be able to help you much either," Kat groggily admits, "Whatever they used to drug us is still throwing me for a loop. I think it's up to you… and anybody who might rescue us, but I wouldn't count on it though."

"Great…just great," Hotaru mutters to herself, "*beep* you author, *beep* you."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Kat's spirit form wanders the halls of the dungeon trying to find a suitable candidate. Since the drug in her system has greatly decreased her effectiveness, she doesn't want to pick one that would give her much of a fight.

" _Ah, a volunteer,"_ she thought when she spots a guard asleep on duty.

Quickly, she takes possession of the guard's body. Once, she is in control, she sets off to find Hotaru's weapons. _"Hotaru is never going to let Mito and I forget that we thought that we would only need one kunai each for this camping trip. I thought Hotaru was paranoid when she said that she wanted to take as many weapons as possible."_

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 _"Hey, what did I do to deserve this?"_ thought the guard, posted outside of Hotaru, Mito, and Kat's cell, as a fellow guard is walking towards him with a plate of food, _"He even brought a knife and fork."_

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"Finally, room service…" Hotaru said as she notices the cell door open to allow a guard to enter, "What took you so long?"

The guard bent over and cut Hotaru and Kat's bonds, before slitting his own throat.

Even before the guard's body hit the floor, Kat began to get up. "It took me a while to find someone that I could possess, and then I had to find the weapons, and before you start… I know… we should have brought more than just one kunai. Where is Mito anyways?" Kat asks as she looks around.

"While you were out on your walk about, a couple of guards came and carried Mito off. We had better go look for her," Hotaru said as she left the cell, "You had better stay behind me." As she walks by the slumping guard outside of their cell, she notices a fork sticking out of his throat. "Good work," Hotaru said as she gestures to him with her thumb. "Were you checking to see if he was done?" she asks as she walks by him.

"I just didn't feel like cutting our bonds with the fork," Kat said as she rolls her eyes.

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Mito feels like she is floating on a cloud, as she slowly regains her senses. She lies there feeling warmth surround her. She listens to a sweet voice sing a lullaby to her. The female must have been singing for a while because it sounds as if the song is ending.

"I'll jump across the starry sky to collect you. I'll jump across the starry sky to collect you." Mito hears as she opens her eyes. That is when she notices that she is resting her head in the lap of the singer. The blond haired blue-eyed singer with fox ears on the top of her head looks down at her and smiles a small "Mona Lisa" type of smile. "Finally, you waken. I was beginning to worry about you."

Mito looks past the lady's head and notices that the dark stormy sky above their heads and a fiery bird flying amongst the clouds as they rest in a peaceful green meadow. "Where am I and who are you?" Mito asks as she lies still because she doesn't seem to have the energy to move."

"Where you are is the spirit realm, and who I am...," the lady, who is wearing a pure white kimono with a gold obi, says with a look of astonishment, "I'm surprised that Lady Tsunade has not mentioned me. I am your…Godmother, Inari."

"How did I get here, the last place I remember being is in a bed in that lady's home," a bewildered Mito asks, "and why do I feel so weak?"

"The drug, the monks used to capture you three girls, is a type of poison," Inari angrily said, "If a person is subjected to it for too long, they will be unable to access their chakra. The Monks used to be a powerful clan of shinobi, but they overused this poison in their rituals, which blocked their ability to use chakra, for them and all of their descendants. Their leader, Orochi, had a vision of the end of days, and he wrote down all of his visions on a scroll. Orochi gained many followers. Eventually, they seized this dead volcano from an isolated Kunoichi village that resided here. It was Orochi's plan to seize the statue of a dragon Kami that the Kunoichi village worshiped, in order to use it for his own purposes."

"So…I'm dead?"

"No, you have been greatly weakened, but don't worry about that right now a friend of ours," she says as she glances up at the fiery bird, "is doing her best to heal you from the poison. However, the poison is the least of your worries."

"If I'm not dead," said Mito, "than what is worse than the poison killing me?"

"Orochi's descendent, Nobu, is going to sacrifice you and all of the other captured girls from the village to the dragon Kami."

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"Where is everyone?" Tsunade whispers to Shizune as they quietly walk up to a large stone building.

They peer thru an archway into the building, and see a long corridor, lit with burning torches.

"No sentries?" Shizune whispers, only to be shushed by Tsunade.

"Can't you hear that…?" Tsunade whispers, before crooking her finger at her indicating that she should follow her.

When they reach the end of the corridor, they realize that it leads to the center courtyard.

"Well, at least now we know where everyone went off to," Tsunade says with a chuckle when they both see Hotaru and Kat having fun with the monks, "I think they're all trying to converge on our girls."

Hotaru is slicing and dicing with her two Katana, while she is singing (AN: screamo style), "Let the bodies hit the floor."

Kat is shooting monks with her pointed finger gun and using her blood blossom jutsu to blow up their heads.

"Where's Mito?" Tsunade asks as she suddenly realizes that she doesn't see her.

" _ **Oba-san,"**_ Kat says in Tsunade's mind, _**"Where have you been?"**_

" _Never mind that,"_ thought Tsunade _, "Where's Mito?"_

" _ **Some jerk came by and snagged her while I was away. These jerks aren't letting us into the main temple to get to her."**_

"Shizune, go down there and give the girls a hand," Tsunade orders, "I'll go around and see if there is another way into the main temple.

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Tsunade sneaks around to the back and finds an airshaft covered with an iron grate that is bolted to the wall. After examining it, she breaks off the head of each bolt with a flick of her finger, and moves the grate to the side.

" _Maybe I should have told Shizune to find another way in, while I fight the monks,"_ thought Tsunade, as she notices that the airshaft is going to be a tight fit for her. _"At least it's dry or even worse… the vent could be 34 stories up in the Nakatomi tower in Amegakure,"_ She thought as she squeezes her body into the vent.

After wiggling thru a few yards of shaft, Tsunade notices that the height of the shaft is increasing enough for her to walk bent over. Finding relief in being able to somewhat stand as she walks, she doesn't notice that the angle of the shaft is going down.

" _Boy, is it starting to get hot and muggy in here,"_ Tsunade thought as she also notices that the walls of the shaft were getting wetter from the steam.

Before she knew it, Tsunade slips on the increasingly slippery floor of the shaft, and starts shooting down the shaft, feet first.

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" _So after all of this time, you are almost full,"_ Nobu thought as he stood before the clear belly of the statue of the dragon Kami, _"Soon you will be alive again, and you will give me the power I need to save this world from the coming threat."_

"Sensei," says a monk as he steps up to Nobu, "the girls are here."

"Good, then let's…," Nobu starts to say before a person falling from the ceiling air vent, lands into the bathing fountain, interrupts him.

" _Well, isn't that interesting,"_ thought Nobu as he watches the spluttering woman sit up in the fountain of blood, and stare at her hands. Watching her shrink into herself, as she freaks at the sight of the blood covering her, fascinates him.

"Sensei…?"

"I thought we were going to have a problem, but it seems to have taken care of itself," said Nobu as he turned away from Tsunade and faced the statue. "Hang the first girl over the dragon's open mouth, so the feeding may begin."

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"Hey, I think they're dying to see us," chuckles Hotaru as she moves to a place with less dead monks on the floor."

"Shut up, and keep working," snaps Katsuo as she sees what Hotaru noticed- A hundred more monks pouring out of the building.

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As Tsunade sits, staring at her hands, she hears a woman whisper in her ear.

"So this is the great Tsunade…meh…I expected more from you," the woman says sarcastically.

"…"

"To think that you call yourself a Kunoichi," the woman jeers, "You bring shame to our profession."

"…"

"Where is this vaunted Konoha Will of Fire that I have heard so much about?"

Suddenly Tsunade hears the memory of Dan's voice, "Do you love me…then …fight."

"Oh, how easily you forget," taunts the Kunoichi spirit.

Tsunade now hears another voice whisper from her memories, "I am Hashirama of the Senju clan and I vow to protect the village of Konoha with my life. That is my way; this is the will of fire!"

"Heh, wouldn't your grandfather be proud…" continues the Kunoichi, "If he could only see you now!"

In an instant, Tsunade's mind is pulled back to when Mito was a little girl. Tsunade had just punched a man for pushing Mito to the side like garbage, because she was in the way. Tsunade sees herself, sitting on her feet, holding Mito in her arms.

"Do you really love me," asks Mito as she looks up into Tsunade's face.

"…With all of my heart, Hime."

"So you will always protect me?" Mito said as she glances at the unconscious man.

"Even at the cost of my life, Hime," Tsunade says in a serious tone as she looks from the unconscious man to Mito's face and seemingly into her very own, "…with my very life."

" _Finally,"_ thought the Kunoichi spirit when she saw Tsunade turning her shaking hands into fists.

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As the second girl's blood is draining from her slit throat into the waiting maw of the dragon statue, Nobu watches as his servant rushes to fetch another.

" _Your death will not be in vain,"_ thought Nobu as he looks at the dying second girl then at the corpse of the first girl, who was tossed to the side for cremation later. _"Soon I will have the power to…"_ he starts to think when a sudden movement caught his attention, a bloody woman rushing over to punch his servant in the head, crushing his head against the wall. Nobu stood transfixed, as he watches his servant's head pop like a grape.

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"So you want to dance, huh," Tsunade said as she turns and notices him pull Mito's Kunai from his belt.

They circle each other, looking for an opening.

Tsunade watches him nod to someone behind her, just before she feels two massive arms grab and pin her arms behind her.

"That's right Akihiro hold her," Nobu said just before he threw the Kunai at Tsunade.

Tsunade struggles as she watches the kunai spin in the air, but before it could reach her, it veers off its course and sinks into the throat of the dragon Kami.

"Noooo…" Nobu screams, just before the statue explodes.

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~Just moments ago~

" _Finally,"_ Shizune thought as she watches Hotaru kill the last monk, "Kat, find them."

"I'm on it," she said as she leaves her body under Hotaru's protection.

Moments later, the earth shook from an explosion deep in the temple standing before them.

"Well, that wasn't what I expected," Kat said as she returns to her body.

"What's going on?" Shizune asks.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way," Kat says as she runs into the temple and the other two follow her, "We may have to dig them out."

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After clearing some debris, Shizune and the other two Kunoichi are finally able to get the inner sanctum doors open, Inside they find the unconscious girls and Tsunade holding and rocking Mito in her arms.

"Is she alright?" Shizune asks as she runs up to Tsunade.

"Yes, she's alright," Tsunade replies with a big smile as Mito weakly lifts a hand and waves, "I think we're both alright."

Kat hearing a soft cry coming from the back of the room walks over to investigate. She passes by the corpses of Nobu and his huge ally to where the dragon Kami once stood. When she arrives, she notices a small black female winged baby dragon looking around in a panicked state, crying.

"Mommy," it growls at Kat," when the dragon sees her.

"Come here baby," Kat growls back as she picks the dragon up. "I think I'll name you Wraith," Kat says as she looks her over and then carries her back to where the others are.

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~A few days later~

"So you had an interesting trip I hear, what happened?" Miyahara asks the girls when they arrive at his home.

"Interesting is one way to put it," Mito replies before all three kunoichi proceed to talk Miyahara's ears off with their version of the tale.

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~ 4 months later, Graduation ~

"You have long waited for this day," Miyahara intones as he looks upon the three Kohai…no…Kunoichi, who stand shoulder to shoulder, before him.

Behind the three females stand their proud mothers, who also waited with anticipation for this day.

All three stand tall, each wearing a graduation cloak with its cloth hood hanging in the back. Mito's travel cloak and cloth hood is a dark brown color. Hotaru's is blood red, and Katsuo's is sea foam green.

Miyahara walks up to Mito, pulls a Tanto from his obi, and hands it to Mito with two hands. She grasps it with two hands, as she receives it with a bow.

After doing the same with Hotaru, and Katsuo, Miyahara walks back to stand in front of the Kunoichi once again.

Wraith must have been getting bored, because she pops her head out of Kat's hood and rests her chin on Kat's shoulder to watch the proceedings.

"We have traveled far, and done much in our journey together. I am proud of all of you, and even though you are my final group of students I will be instructing, you have proven to be my best," he proudly says with a grin.


	5. Chapter 5 Meeting New People

09/03/13- I just wanted to add on a bonus scene.

I do not own any of the characters in this story, except my original characters, nor the world where this story resides.

 _Thoughts_

 _(Authors notes)_

 _ **Telepathy**_

*beep* = Obscene/offensive language

Meeting new people

Ch 5

~Konoha, Main gate~

"Izumo, who do you think they are?" asks Kotetsu when he spots five people walking down the road towards Konoha's main gate.

"They might be the visitors that the Hokage mentioned to the previous watch."

As the visitors get closer, the two guards notice that five Kunoichi, two older and three younger members form the group.

"Who are you, and what is your business in Konoha?" Izumo asks the tall blond Kunoichi who appears to be in charge, when the group stops in front of the two guards.

"I am Senju Tsunade, and these are my… associates," Tsunade said with a smile as she motions to her four traveling companions. "We have business with the Hokage," Tsunade mentions as she pulls some documents from her robe, "The Hokage sent these documents to me to allow us to enter the village."

While Izumo is examining the documents, Kotetsu notices an Anbu arrive, "Hyou, what are you doing here?"

"The Hokage sent me to escort the visitors to the tower."

"Fine, whatever," said Izumo as he waves them on; "I guess you are somebody else's headache now," he said as they walk away with Hyou.

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~Later, in the Hokage's office waiting room ~

Hayate Gekkō had just got off working a late shift patrolling the village. The last thing he wanted to do is wait outside of the Hokage's office, but here he is, sitting on the couch, waiting.

 _"I wonder who the kids are,"_ Hayate thought as he looks at the three young Kunoichi meditating in the full lotus position on the floor. _"Even though the Kunoichi in the dark brown travel cape and the one in the sea foam travel cape are not having difficulty meditating, the one in the blood red travel cape seems to be having trouble concentrating,"_ He thought as his stomach rumbles aloud. _"I hope nobody heard that,"_ he thought as he looks down and rubs his belly, thereby missing the fleeting look of irritation on the face of the Kunoichi in the blood red cape.

 _"The first one, even at her age, sure is a looker, but the second one…,"_ he thought as he scrutinizes the girls. _"Interesting… with her spiky silver hair and the half mask covering her face, if she wasn't a girl, you could almost mistake her for…"_ suddenly his stomach loudly protests again.

"Are you going to get something to eat?" the kunoichi in the blood red cape snaps as she continues to attempt to meditate. "Because the noise your stomach is making is annoying."

"I apologize for disturbing…Tenten, is that you?" Hayate suddenly asks when he recognizes the Kunoichi, "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in years."

"First, I no longer go by the name of Tenten," she snaps with an air of impatience, and since she gave up on the idea of meditating, she stood up, and sat next to Hayate on the couch, "My name is Hotaru. Second, I was sent away to live with Lady Tsunade. She adopted me a few years ago."

"So, are they your sisters?"

"The one in the brown cape is the other one is our niece. Here, eat this," she says after she fetches a small package from her belt pouch, and tries to hand it to him, "If you don't silence your stomach, those two might have trouble meditating as well."

"Uh, thanks," he said as he takes the package, "What is it?"

"It's an Everlasting Gobstopper."

"A what…?"

"It's an emergency ration bar; I've been keeping it for an emergency."

"Yeah, right… so why does it say taco on the wrapper?" Hayate asks when he notices that the word taco is handwritten on the wrapper.

"Because I like tacos, of course," she says with a roll of her eyes.

"Interesting," he says as he eats the ration bar. "I can taste some kind of meat… onions…tomatoes…corn meal…cheese, and some spices as well as something else that I can't put my finger on. Well anyways, it was delicious, thank you," he said as he finishes it.

"You're welcome," she said as she sat on the floor to attempt meditating once again, "I thought you might like it, I know that I love tacos."

 _"Tacos huh, I wonder where she got it from?"_ he wonders, but didn't ask because he saw that she is meditating.

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~An hour later, at the Senju estate~

 _"After all of this time, and nothing has changed,"_ Tsunade thought as she unlocks, then opens the huge wooden main gate. _"It's a good thing that I had left the key with the Hokage, before I left,"_ she thought as she looks around at the state of the estate, _"Looks like he had someone keep up with the maintenance and repairs."_

"Whose home is this, okaa-san?" Mito asks as she looks around.

"Yes, oba-san, whose home is it?" Katsuo said as she bent over to examine a flower.

"It sure is taking you a long time to establish your characters," Hotaru loudly grumbles as she stares into the sky, as everyone ignores another one of her random outbursts, which are happening more frequently now.

"Ahem, it is our home," Tsunade said after she clears her throat, "I grew up here. Now, ladies, go pick out your room. Just remember that the two main bedrooms are for me and Shizune."

Before she even finishes speaking, the three girls are racing each other to pick their own room.

"Don't forget, the Hokage is sending someone to test you tonight," Tsunade calls to their backs, "So if you unpack your scrolls quickly, you can have the rest of the day to explore the village, just be back before it's time to eat."

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As Mito is patiently waiting in the queue at the Amaguriama, a drunken man stumbled into her and others. As his eyes came into focus, he thought he saw someone he wanted to get to know better.

"Oi… show me yours -hiccup- and I'll show you mine –hiccup-," the drunk finally managed to say.

"You… pervert," Mito, and another female said at the same time, as they seem to crush his head between their punches (think fist sandwich with his head as the meat), then they simultaneously pull out a kunai and look at him while he falls to the floor unconscious.

"Meh, drunks sure aren't as tough as they use to be," the Kunoichi said to her friend who was standing next to her as Mito nods in agreement. "My name is Anko and this is Kurenai," she said as she holsters her kunai and both of the Kunoichi appraise Mito, "You new around here?"

"Hi, my name is Mito and yes, I am. My family and I just came into town," Mito answers as she holsters her kunai, and then buys a Dango on a stick.

"So… you like Dango too, huh?" Anko asked as she stole a quick glance at Mito's kunai holster while buying her Dango.

"Oh yes, I love Dango," Mito replied, "Whenever I go into a new town, I look to see if it's sold there."

"Good idea," Anko retorted as she continues her internal evaluation of Mito.

"So you already spoke with the Hokage?" Kurenai asks as she buys a Dango for herself as well.

"Oh, yes, my sensei spoke to the Hokage earlier today," Mito replies as all three of them walks away from the Amaguriama stand and sits at a nearby table, "Once my sister, niece, and I pass the final exams, we hope to be kept together in our own team. I'll be the team's medic."

"Your own team, neh… So how is it that you are not even a genin and already a medic?" questioned Kurenai.

"My okaa-san and onee-chan were very… persistent in my training. They have been training me for as long as I can remember," Mito said with a chuckle, as she drew a kunai again.

"Yes, family can at times be much stricter in training than a stranger would be," Kurenai chuckles as she thought of the Hyuuga clan.

"So you're into kunai, neh?" Anko states as she notices Mito spinning a kunai with the fingers of one hand (Mito is treating it like a baton).

"I love them as much as my Senbon and Shuriken," Mito answers with a misty-eyed expression.

"You're starting to sound like another Kunoichi that I know," Kurenai said with a small smile as she quickly glances at Anko.

"Heh, my otô-san once warned me that I would end up like my okaa-san," Mito chuckles, "so what do you do?"

"We are Jōnin," replies Kurenai.

"Does either of you have any knowledge of poisons?"

"I do…Why?" Anko asks.

"I would like to learn as much as I can about them for two reasons," Mito answers, "One- so I can increase the efficiency of my Senbon, and two- so I can be a more effective medic."

"If I train you… what would I get out of it?" Anko says with a grunt.

"Well… If you ever need a private medic, you know… to treat any injuries that you want to keep off the record, I would volunteer my services."

"So you're that good huh? Who did you say trained you again?" asks Kurenai.

"My sensei is Lady Tsunade."

"I thought you said that your okaa-san trained you?" a bewildered Anko asks.

"I did. Lady Tsunade is my okaa-san. I don't like to use her name. I prefer to earn my own way," Mito said with a stubborn expression on her face.

"So who is your otô-san?" Kurenai inquires.

"Jiraiya," Mito said with a sigh of resignation, "I don't like being a name dropper."

"You're not… we asked you. You didn't volunteer the information," Kurenai replies as she and Anko exchange looks, "Now I know why I saw a messenger sneak in the council chambers to speak to the village council earlier."

"So will you train me?"

"Well you're in luck; I'm out celebrating the anniversary of the loss of my last tie to an evil leech. So… yeah, I'll train you," Anko said as she went back to eating her Dango.

"So, what is your niece, and sister's names," asks Kurenai.

"My niece's name is Katsuo, and my sister is Hotaru."

"It was nice meeting you Mito," Kurenai replies as starts to leave with Anko.

"I can't wait to meet the rest of your clan," Anko said over her shoulder as she walks away.

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Katsuo wanders the village, looking at the various sights. She is starting to get bored until she spots a flower shop with the name, Yamanaka Flowers.

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 _"It's going be another slow day,"_ Inoichi thought as he wipes his counter, _"I wonder what Ino is doing?"_

Noriko, Inoichi's wife, walks in with some new plants for the display table.

"Have you seen Ino?" asks Inoichi.

"Not since this morning, dear," she said as she left the front room.

 _"I wonder where she…"_ Inoichi is starting to think before his shopkeeper doorbell tinkles, alerting him that a customer is coming in the front door. In walks a young Kunoichi, possibly an Academy student. She has spiky silver short hair, wearing a half-mask, a standard shinobi uniform, and a sea foam green travel cloak. _"Hmm, I wonder who this is. If I didn't know any better, I would think that she is related to Kakashi."_

"Excuse me sir, my name is Katsuo, and I am wondering…" the stranger starts to say before his daughter Ino rushes in the front door and interrupts her.

"Daddy, I need some money," Ino bellows as she enters the shop.

"Ino, not now I am with a customer."

"Sir, I am wondering…" Katsuo starts to say.

"This wannabe…" Ino says with an appraising look and a smirk, "She can wait."

"Sir…" as Katsuo tries to speak to Inoichi again.

"Didn't you hear me?" Ino snaps, and then menacingly replies, as she raises her hands into a familiar hand seal position, "I said you can wait."

 _"Ino…"_ thought Inoichi.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Katsuo warningly retorts, before she freezes for about five seconds.

Suddenly, something causes Ino to rock back on her heels. "How did you do that?" Ino says in astonishment as she drops her hands.

"That was instructive…nobody has ever tested my shields before, thank you," Katsuo replies in a somber tone, "Now if you don't mind. I have business to conduct."

 _"WTF,"_ thought Inoichi as he watches.

"How did you do that?" Ino shrieks.

"Sit down and shut up," Katsuo snaps in a very strange tone.

Ino, immediately, ceases talking, and sits on the floor.

 _"OK, now how did she do_ _that_ _?"_ thought Inoichi as he watches his daughter struggle to move from her sitting position, or attempt to speak.

"I apologize for my temper," Katsuo replies apologetically. "She's alright, I'll release her when we are thru," she replies when she notices Inoichi's concern for his daughter.

"Indeed… so how can I help you?"

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 _"Who is she, and why can't I speak, or get up from sitting on the floor?"_ thought Ino as she watches her father buy some strange plant from the stranger. Just then, some weird looking type of lizard pokes its head out of the stranger's hood and sticks its tongue out at Ino, before returning to its hiding place in the hood. _"Was that a dragon?"_

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"Thank you for bringing me this plant," Inoichi replies as they complete their transaction, "I have never seen it's like before."

"You are quite welcome," Kat replies, "My sensei has these growing in his garden, and he gave me a few pots for my own use. When I saw your shop, I thought you might like to have an Aloe of your own."

"You are correct," Inoichi says in an even tone, "Just out of curiosity… how did you do that?" he asks as he points with his eyes at Ino.

"I'm very sorry, but that is a clan secret," Kat says with a very small smirk, "However, if you speak to my okaa-san, Shizune, perhaps an arrangement can be made. You can find us at the Senju estate."

"Indeed, I shall," replies Inoichi, as he watches Katsuo leave, but not before she says something in Ino's direction, releasing her. _"Tsunade's assistant here, and living at the Senju estate. I think that I would enjoy having a conversation with her."_

"Oo…that girl…" Ino growls as she starts walking towards the door.

"Ino…" Inoichi says menacingly, stopping Ino in her tracks, "I think we need to talk about how to treat customers."

 _"I'll get you for this,"_ Ino angrily thought.

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Naruto is walking home after another day of D-level missions, when he notices Maito Gai sensei standing outside of the entrance to the Jōnin Standby Station.

"There you are," Gai said to Neji as he approaches. "Wait here for me and hold this. I forgot to bring something with me for the meeting. I'll be right back," Gai said as he hands a strange box to Neji, pats Neji on the back, and then walks away.

 _What is going on?"_ Naruto wonders as he watches Gai walk around the corner and disappear in a puff of smoke, "WTF?"

That's when Naruto notices two wired small white patches on Neji's back. Quickly, Naruto follows the wires to an alley nearby. Hopping to the roof of a nearby building, Naruto sneaks to the alley. When he arrives, he finds a chuckling Kunoichi wearing a blood red traveling cloak, sitting on the ground as she connects the ends of the two small wires to a box that she is holding between her knees.

 _"Hey didn't I see her picture on jiji's desk this morning,"_ Naruto thought as he looks at her, _"Yeah she is one of the people who is coming to live here. What kind of prank is she pulling?"_

"So what's your game?" Naruto whispers to the Kunoichi as he lands behind her.

"I set a trap for a bunch of Jōnin noobs," she chuckles as she sees them arrive and enter the building, "They think they are there to receive an award from the Hokage."

"What will they get?"

"Watch and learn, Naruto," she said as she points to the Station. A couple of minutes after they had entered the Station, the Kunoichi's right hand start to spark with electricity. After doing a one handed seal with her left hand, and she touches two metal prongs at the end of the box with her electrified right hand, Naruto hears a series of popping sounds. The object in Neji's hand explodes, and covers him with foam, as he stiffens before falling unconscious to the ground.

Naruto watches as an enormous amount of foam begins pouring out of the Jōnin Standby Station's windows.

"What did you do?" says Naruto, as he feels excited and anxious at the same time, "Are they ok?"

"Don't worry about them," the Kunoichi said as she pushes a button on the side of the small box, which quickly reels in the two wires, "It's only a lot of foam that will leave them smelling very stinky for a while."

"So how did you do it," Naruto says as he smiles mischievously.

"Come on, we can talk over a few bowls of ramen," the Kunoichi said as she walks in a very familiar direction."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~( **.** }*{ **.** )~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

~Ramen Ichiraku~

Naruto burps loudly as they both push away their eighth empty ramen bowl.

"Thanks," Naruto replies, "Good thing for you that I wasn't that very hungry."

"Yeah, same here," the Kunoichi replies as she pays Ayame for the food, "I just felt like having a little snack."

"My name is Naruto, as you already know," says Naruto as he extends his hand, "What's your name and how do you already know me?"

"Name's Hotaru," Hotaru answers as she shakes his hand, "When I was walking around earlier, I overheard some people mention your name as you walked by with your sensei. Some people were acting weird when they mentioned your name so I decided to wander around and ask some questions."

"So what did you learn?" Naruto cautiously asks.

"That there are as many idiots living here as there was when I lived here," Hotaru said with a saddened expression.

"I thought I recognized you… aren't you that Tenten girl that moved away a few years ago," Naruto said, "I always wondered why you left Konoha."

"I was involved in an accident a few years ago…" Hotaru starts to say when Naruto interrupts her.

"Oh, I remember you; you're the one who was found trapped in a cellar…eating those dead…" Naruto starts to say, but he stops when Hotaru begins to get up, "Oi, where are you going?"

"I thought you might not want to be seen with 'the beast of Konoha'," Hotaru said with a very hurt expression as memories of the taunting voices of the past resurface in her mind.

"Who would say something stupid like that, and why would I worry about what those bakayaro-techi think," Naruto huffs with an offended expression on his face. "Come on, sit down. People like us should stick together," Naruto says as he pulls on her hand.

"People like us?" Asks Hotaru as she sits down.

"Yeah, the ones that make the idiots so jealous," Naruto said with a smirk, "So how did you do it?"

"Uhm, do what?" Hotaru asks.

"I know that was not a normal Bunshin of Gai," Naruto whispers after looking around, "so, how did you do it."

"Oh, that… I heard about what you had done to Mizuki," Hotaru chuckles, "So as I was asking around about you, some people had mentioned about the scroll that you had…ahem… borrowed from the Hokage."

"So you asked the Hokage?"

"Heh…no… I decided to do it your way and sneak a peek at it, and learn the Kage Bunshin, when his office was empty."

"Really, it was that easy? I would have thought jiisan would have made the scroll more secure by now," Naruto said with a puzzled expression.

"It wasn't as easy as you think," Hotaru says, while rubbing her chest as she remembers the two kunai that suddenly shot out of the wall into her chest, when she opened the hidden wall safe.

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~That evening~

Iruka slowly walks to the Hokage tower to meet the Jounin whom is going to accompany him to the Senju estate to test the three candidates.

As he turns the corner, he notices Kakashi reading his always-present book, and leaning against a lantern pole as if he is waiting for someone.

"So, you got stuck being my witness for my examinations?" asks Iruka when he approaches Kakashi.

"Yes, I did," said Kakashi with a sigh. "So, let's get this over with," he said as he put his book away in his flak jacket.

Silently, they walk down the road until they reached the main gate of the Senju estate.

"What are we doing here?" asks Kakashi as he looks around and notices the activity inside of the estate.

"Tsunade has returned," Iruka said with a smirk, "and she brought some people with her."

"Who did she bring with her?" Kakashi asks as he grabs and consults the file with the list of the candidates' names.

List of visiting Candidates for the Academy Final Exam:

Senju, Mito, age 14

Father: Jiraiya

Mother: Senju, Tsunade

Senju, Hotaru, age 13

Father (adopted): Jiraiya

Mother (adopted): Senju, Tsunade

Hatake, Katsuo, age 12

Father: Hatake, Kakashi

Mother: Shizune.

"Nani…" Kakashi says with an expression of utter confusion as his mind races to recollect the circumstances of almost thirteen years ago. _"What was I doing…oh yeah, the Village Council sent me to convince Tsunade to return to the village,"_ he recollects with a smirk, as he remembers how he failed. _"Ooh,"_ he thought as he suddenly recalls that night, in which he spent most of it talking to Shizune in a bar over drinks, before waking up the next morning in her bed and quietly sneaking away without waking her up.

"From your expression, I gather that you did not know," Iruka says as he pats Kakashi's shoulder. "I think this is going to be an interesting night for you my friend," he said as he pulls on the cord for the gate bell, announcing their arrival.

"I think calling this night merely interesting is going to prove to be an understatement."

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~that same evening~

Hayate Gekkō keeps rolling about in his bed, trying to get to sleep.

 _"I wonder what is causing my sudden fever,"_ he thought as he wipes his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. Coughing as he is getting out of bed, he walks to the sink and gets himself a glass of water. _"Maybe I've got the flu or something,"_ he thought as he notices the way his body is aching as he moves. _"What was in that emergency ration bar anyways?"_ He thought as he felt the queasiness of his stomach.

Little did he know that that was one of the experimental ration bars, which Hotaru found while she was trying to survive in the cellar of Doctor Ishii. The bar that she had given him was the last of its kind.

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DVD extra

Two Bonus Scenes:

 **Mito meditating in the Hokage's office waiting room.**

Mito once again finds herself in the green meadow. As she gazes into the sunny blue sky, she wonders where her Godmother, Inari, is.

"Hello, I was wondering when we might meet," a melodious young voice said from behind Mito.

Mito quickly turns around to see a glowing beautiful red haired girl wearing a light green kimono with a golden metallic obi.

"Who are y-you," Mito asks.

"I am Akane," the girl replies.

"What are you and why are you here?"

"A portion of me was incorporated into you as you were being created and I am here because you are like the Jinchuuriki of this world and I am sort of like the Bijuu."

"I've heard of them. People speak of them when they are drunk and think that nobody is listening. Since I'm a little kid, nobody pays any attention to me, so they tend to say more than they would around some other adult stranger."

"Well… like I said we're like those two… but not exactly. You are actually from another world and the Bennu in that world accidently killed you and when she repented her mistake, she decided to give you another chance in this world."

"Bennu… what's that?"

"The Bennu is the other world's version of this world's Houou. They look very much alike, but their powers are vastly different."

"Oh."

"So when she left you here, she left a piece of herself inside of you to be your guardian."

"…and that's you?"

"Yes… and that's me," Akane said as she began to float in the air, "I look like a child the same age as you for a reason. It's because I will grow as you grow…this is so you will not become over whelmed with your potential power, and don't ask me what those powers will be because they are different for each person. It all depends on the person's energies."

"No wonder my chakra levels haven't seemed to deplete to dangerous low levels," Mito says in astonishment as she thinks about all of the medical training she has done and how she could push herself to levels that surprised even her mother."

"As you deplete your chakra levels, you have access to my chakra, so be careful, we are not fully developed yet and we do have limits," Akane says as she lowers herself to the ground.

"Are you saying that we will have unlimited chakra potential someday?"

"Something like that…but don't get cocky or arrogant, because that would be your undoing, because you are still human. Just because you may have access to an infinite reserve of chakra, it still has to go through you," Akane warns as she sits in a lotus position and pats the ground in front of her, "sit here with me and we will rest."

"Ok," Mito replies as she sits, "Why do we need to rest?"

"You just need to become more aware of my presence, so that you and I can work together as one."

 **Hotaru meditating** **in the Hokage's office waiting room** **.**

While Hotaru meditates, her mind tends to bob around like a cork in the ocean.

" _Put the lime in the coconut, you drank them both up_ _  
_ _Put the lime in the coconut, you called your doctor, woke him up…_ "

she could hear the singer in her mind crooning the melody,

"… _I say, Doctor, doctor, ain't there nothin' I can take,_ _  
_ _I say, Doctor, dooooctor, to relieve this belly ache?"_

As the last line echoes in her mind, memories flash thru her mind. She remembers chasing after the two teenage delivery boys, Dai and Hisao. "Come on…Let me go with you," she whines as they ignore her and continue gathering the supplies to be delivered to Doctor Ishii, "Come on guys."

"Beat it kid," Dai said.

"You'll get us in trouble," Hisao said.

"Nobody will know," Hotaru tries to persuade.

Then suddenly, Hotaru remembers trailing behind the two teens. She always could sway those boys. Hotaru begins to tense up as she recalls Doctor Ishii's mother, Yori, showing her around the house as the two boys move the supplies to the storeroom. She is then lead to the cellar to see something unusual, as they walk down the steps to the cellar, Yori describes how Shirō's grandfather, created a seal to produce the water supply in the cellar, how Shirō created some kind of storage device, and about a failed experiment of emergency rations that he was formulating for survivors of catastrophes.

"I told him not to store the food in the cellar," Yori explains as she shook her head. "Some strange fungus contaminated it and is making it glow this weird bright green color. We're using it as a source of light down here," she said as a loud bang shook the shack.

"What was that?" Hotaru asks nervously.

"I don't know," Yori replies as she starts leading Hotaru back up the stairs.

The two meet the two boys as they are coming down the stairs, "We better get out of here. There's a group of shinobi fighting outside and they look like that they're getting seri…"

Hisao would have finished that sentence but the explosion interrupted him.

The next memory Hotaru remembered is when she found herself regaining consciousness, and trapped in a cellar with three corpses.

The next few weeks are a blurred memory of trying to survive on the strange experimental rations, after placing the three corpses in the storage device. She remembers thinking that it was strange that the device had chains and clamps. According to the pictures, you attach the clamps to the game's ankles, attach the chains to the clamps, push the button, and the machine will do the rest. (AN: Smoke 'em if you got 'em.)

She remembers standing there and watching the machine drag the corpses inside of it, before the door slammed shut.

The next thing she recalls is running out of rations after a month. If she had known that a rescue wasn't coming soon, she would have stretched out the rations farther.

Soon, she was hungry again, and she started looking for more food. The only thing she found was a weird looking black pod, at the time she thought it was an exotic onion, but now she knows the truth. It was a death pod. It is a very potent poison. A few seconds after she finished eating it, her gut felt like it was on fire.

For weeks, she came in and out of consciousness. One of the times that she was barely conscious, she remembers seeing the Shinigami, Thanatos, and some winged man named Azrael betting on some kind of Death pool on the time that she would die.

In a later bout of consciousness, she discovered that since nobody won the first round, they each gave her a gift.

Shinigami gave her the ability to see glimpses of other worlds.

Thanatos gave her the ability to pull any type of food, from any of the worlds that she sees, out her favorite pocket.

Azrael gave her the ability to understand, read, and speak any language.

At the time, Hotaru wondered what type of hallucination she was having, but now she wonders if it wasn't one.

The last memory she has of her time in the cellar was when the three personifications of Death had lost another round of the Death pool, and they decided that Hotaru would probably live. They each promised Hotaru a gift to be given at a later time.

However, she is having trouble remembering what each of the three promised to give her. As Hotaru keeps struggling to remember what was promised to her, a noise in the Hokage's office waiting room brings her mind back to Earth. It was the rumblings of someone's empty stomach.


	6. Ch 6 Blessed are the peacemakers

I do not own any of the characters in this story, except my original characters, nor the world where this story resides.

 **Please** Read  & Review. Just say no to Flaming and Trolling.

" _Thoughts"_

 _(AN: Authors notes)_

 _ **Telepathy**_

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Chapter 6

~Meanwhile~

It is late at night and Nagato is asleep in his chair. However, it is not a peaceful slumber. His face twitches with signs of pain. Suddenly, his mind explodes with white light as he wakes up with a gasp.

 _"What is going on?"_ Nagato thinks as he surveys his chamber thru squinted eyes, _"I don't see anybody."_ He thinks before he realizes his predicament. _"Somebody is draining my chakra,"_ he thought as he felt his life ebb away, _"How could they drain my chakra so quickly."_ He tries to move even one of his six paths of Pain, but discovers that since his chakra levels are past exhaustion, he cannot do it. He hears someone humming to the left of him. As his eyesight is dimming, he sees Doctor Ishii's smiling face, as he walks over to him.

"Pretty little fly. Why does he cry?" Doctor Ishii says in a singsong voice, "Caught in a web. Soon he'll be...eaten."

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~A moment ago~

 _"Almost four years I had to wait,"_ thought Shirō as he watches Nagato sleep, _"It took that long before you would stop having Tobi lead me around by my nose… selling my services to any poor beggar… going from village to village, before you would trust me enough to treat you. Yes, it was I who sent that message, not Orochimaru, volunteering my services to help you walk again,"_ he thought with a smirk as he began to see Nagato squirm in his sleep.

" _Foolish shinobi, you thought I was too insignificant to be any threat to you, even when I asked to make use of the Gedō statue, so that I could use it to cure you. You couldn't imagine that_ _I_ _could be a threat to it or your plans,"_ he thought as he creeps closer to Nagato.

" _It is because of arrogant shinobi like you that my entire clan died. They depended on people like you to defend them…my wife …my children…gone,"_ he angrily recalls, _"How foolish we were to depend on people like_ _you_ _."_

" _You have no idea how many people I had to sacrifice, to get to this moment,"_ Shirō thought as he begins to recall the forbidden black scroll. _"I had to sacrifice many to get the Shinigami's attention. Oh, but it was worth it to get a drop of his blood. Huh, the Kami seemed so bored, he must have been glad for the diversion. If he only knew what I was going to create with his drop of blood… my precious… he probably would not have given it to me,"_ he thought as he shook his head.

Shirō creeps even closer, as he watches Nagato begin to sweat in his sleep. _"Foolish shinobi, do you_ _know_ _what those rods are capable of doing? You use them without realizing that what the Gedō statue can give… it can take away. Heh, you didn't conceive that I would use my precious to consume that stupid corpse of a demon. My precious finished consuming it hours ago…as you slept. I needed the Gedō statue's flesh to complete my precious child's development. Even now, as she pupates in her cocoon inside the fragile shell of a statue, she drains you, and your paths of Pain thru your chakra receivers."_

Shirō steps closer, with a gloating look on his face as he thought, _"soon you and your paths of Pain will be nothing but dust. When that happens, she will absorb your chakra receivers as well."_

Suddenly, Nagato wakes up as he gasps for air and attempts to look around the room. Doctor Ishii walks right up to Nagato, and thinks as he watches Nagato make a futile struggle for life, _"He finally wakes up…I wondered if he would die in his sleep."_

"Pretty little fly. Why does he cry?" Doctor Ishii says in a singsong voice, "Caught in a web. Soon he'll be...eaten."

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The light of the new day is beginning to shine thru the windows of the lab that Nagato had provided to Doctor Ishii, so that he could examine the Gedō statue in privacy. Doctor Ishii walks in and looks upon the fragile shell of the Gedō statue in the light of the new day.

Suddenly, the fragile statue explodes into dust. The dust clears, revealing a woman standing in the dust of the statue's remains. If you can call, a silver metallic skinned naked humanoid…a woman. She has long black hair, black nails, and black colored eyes (AN: like a shark's eyes).

"You're finally here, my child," Doctor Ishii whispers as he looks at her eyes before he kneels in front of her, "Hitomi… you are finally born."

"We are hungry, Father," Hitomi says in a harsh and yet weak voice.

"Don't worry my child, I will get food for you," Shirō grovels.

"No, she needs to eat now!" someone says from behind Doctor Ishii, as the person quickly reaches over and breaks Doctor Ishii's neck with a sudden twisting motion.

"Thank you my love," she says as she smiles with her black teeth, "What took you so long? It took a long time for you to get to the resting stage for your change, so our minds could link. "

"I was weak before I entered my cocoon," Kabuto said as flashes of memory cascade thru his mind. He has images of himself living like an animal… defending himself from rogue ninja, and being severely injured before he, finally, found a cave to hide in and form his cocoon. He steps out of the shadows, "I had to rebuild my strength before I could travel."

"Then let us feed upon my Father's offering."

"Yes… let us feed," he said as they start to devour Shirō's corpse.

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 _"What is that?"_ Konan thinks as she hears an explosion occur somewhere in the upper levels of Pein's tower. Quickly, Konan shunshins thru the tower seeking the source of the disturbance. When she enters Nagato's private quarters, she sees the damages the explosion had inflicted.

" _Nagato…?"_ she thought as she sees his bloody body leaning to the side in his chair. "Nagato…where are you injured…?" She asks as she rushes to his side to assess his injuries.

Nagato's lips move as if trying to speak.

Konan leans in, trying to catch what he is trying to say.

"Konan…?" Nagato whispers in a strange raspy female voice and turns to look at her with all black eyes.

"Who are you?" she asks as she begins to pull away.

"Your replacement," Nagato says after he, in a blink, removes Konan's head from her shoulders with a black blade.

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~Back in Konoha~

The Senju clan walks thru the village of Konohagakure, on their way to a new building that lies across the street from the Academy.

"Whose idea was it to throw us a party?" Mito asks her okaa-san as she glances at her fidgeting sister and cousin, who are following them.

"The civilian council…they want to welcome me back to the village for some reason," Tsunade coolly replies.

"So where is this shindig taking place?" Hotaru impatiently asks.

"It's a new business in Konoha opening today," Tsunade answers, "They are calling it the Baikingu Ima Taberu. It is a buffet style restaurant. The Council rented out its banquet hall."

"I bet they're going to be popular," Katsuo calmly replies with a tiny smirk.

"Especially since, from what I heard," Tsunade said, "for some reason, they are going to sell their meals to the Academy staff and students at discount rates."

"From what I've heard in the village, the Akimichi clan has been salivating for its opening day," Hotaru chuckles as they arrive at the restaurant, "Where's oba-san?"

"I'm right here," Shizune replies as she exits the front door of the restaurant. "The place is packed," she replies to Tsunade as she glances at Kat.

"Who did they invite?" Tsunade asks Shizune.

"They invited all of the Clan heads, all of the team senseis, the Hokage, and Sasuke," Shizune replies, "plus they were told to bring a plus one as well."

"Packed house, indeed," Tsunade replies as she begins to enter the restaurant.

"By the way… the owners, they seem to…"Shizune starts to say.

"You can tell me inside, Shizune," Tsunade says, interrupting Shizune, before entering the restaurant.

"I wonder what my clones are reading right now," Hotaru mutters to herself thinking about the two kage bunshins that she left in the Senju estate library, as she follows her okaasan inside.

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As Tsunade enters the banquet room, polite applause is heard emanating from throughout the room.

When Tsunade surveys the room, she notices a mural on the back wall.

It depicts her and Shizune's daughters in a very heroic pose.

Hotaru, armed with two flaming swords, is fighting a mob of men; Katsuo is standing guard over Mito, who is administering aid to a fallen child.

The title of the mural is "The Shimai".

"Oh, my…" Tsunade whispers as she approaches the mural.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that," the Hokage replies as he stands next to her, "Did they really kill five hundred men."

"It's more like six hundred and thirty," Tsunade says with a smirk as she turns to the Hokage, "but whose counting."

"So what happened," a curious Hokage asks.

"It all started with Mito…,"Tsunade explains as she notices from the corner of her eye, one of the civilian council members maneuver Mito to introduce her to Sasuke. _"Hmm, curious,"_ Tsunade thought.

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Leaning against a wall, Kat is observing the room in silence.

"No good is going to come of that," Katsuo softly grumbles as she notices the death glares that Mito is receiving from two Kunoichi, one a pink haired teen, and the other a blond teen, "Poor little Go-ishi, she probably hasn't even noticed the way those two kunoichi are glaring at her."

"I agree, I too think they are troublesome," replies a male teen with shoulder length dark brown hair that is tied in a spiky ponytail, "So—you play go?"

"Occasionally…"

"Are you as bored as I am?" he says as he pulls a travel Go game from a pouch.

"Completely…" Kat says in monotone.

"Shikamaru…" he says with a nod of his head as he leads her to a nearby table to play Go.

"Katsuo…but my friends call me Kat," she says with a bow of her head, as she follows him.

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" _I see he has made a friend,"_ thought Iruka as he watches Naruto and a young kunoichi talk over an open scroll, _"I hope Naruto and Hotaru don't get themselves into too much trouble."_

Iruka looks around the room and notices Gai Maito talking to his two adopted sons, Lee and Yota. _"Adopting those two boys has been a good thing…for all three of them,"_ Iruka thought as he noticed the subdued clothing that Gai and Lee are currently wearing. _"I wonder what Gai told Lee?"_ Iruka thought as he watches Lee start to walk towards Kat and Shikamaru. Lee looks over his shoulder at Gai, who gives Lee the thumbs up, before continuing. Yota just stands there shaking his head, as he watches.

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" _I wish someone would save me from this,"_ Mito thinks to herself, as she listens once again to the civilian councilor brag about the attributes of Sasuke's fighting prowess.

"Mito… is that you?" a female asks as she approaches from behind Mito.

Mito turns and recognizes Azumi, from the camping trip fiasco.

"It is you…,"Azumi proclaims, "Excuse me… I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation."

"It is quite alright," says Mito in attempt to console Azumi, while Sasuke seems to look as if he is trying to stay awake, "What are you doing in Konoha?"

"After your family rescued my daughter and me, the village was abandoned. Since I had nothing tying me to the place, the first thing that I did was to return to my home in Konoha. My parents, who own this restaurant, were kind enough to take me in and give me a job," Azumi tearfully explains.

"Where is your baby boy…Hajime?" Mito asks.

"He is with my cousin, Ayame?"

"Ayame…doesn't she work at the Ramen Ichiraku stand?"

"Yes, my uncle, Teuchi, owns the stand."

"It must be nice to be near family," Mito replies as she gently pats Azumi's back.

"Had I known that the kunoichi that rescued us were from this village… I can't wait to tell my parents," Azumi says with tears in her eyes as she excuses herself and returns to her kitchen duties.

" _Why isn't she fawning over_ _the_ _Uchiha yet,"_ thought the Councilor _, "What's wrong with her?"_

" _Just as I figured…this party is a waste of time,"_ Sasuke thought with a bored expression, _"I should get out of here so I could find a way to get the power I_ _deserve_ _."_

"Wow…small world," Mito says with a shrug of her shoulders as the civilian councilor and Sasuke seem to be having a contest of which one of the two could appear more constipated, "excuse me, I think someone is calling me." Mito said as she backs away to find her aunt.

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" _What does he want?"_ Shikamaru thought as he notices Lee just standing next to the table, staring at them.

"Oi, Shikamaru," Lee loudly says, "What's your friend's name?"

"Katsuo," Shikamaru said, _"He is so troublesome."_

"Uh…hello, Katsuo, my name is Lee Maito," Lee hesitantly says.

"…"Katsuo says nothing as she stares at the Go board.

"If you want someone to train with," Lee says with a huge grin as he points to himself with his raised thumb, "I'm your man."

"…"Kat continues staring at the Go board.

"Don't worry if you think that you not in good enough shape," Lee continues, "I'll whip you in shape in no time."

"…"Katsuo continues staring at the Go board.

"Heh, if you'll train with me…" Lee tries again, "soon you'll be as good as me."

"Hmm, did you say something?" Kat says as she raises her head and looks at him as if she just noticed him.

Lee stands there looking stunned for a moment before he walks back to Gai Maito looking crushed and bewildered.

Shikamaru watches as Lee and Gai have some type of emotional moment.

"It's your turn," Kat says in a low tone, trying to get Shikamaru's attention.

"Yes… it is…Neko," Shikamaru replies with a small smirk as he returns his attention back to the board and moves a stone, "I hear that you and your sisters are on the new genin team called team zed being lead by Sensei Gekkō.

"Yes, after we passed the exams yesterday, the Hokage assigned us to Sensei Gekkō," Kat says as she makes her move, "What is he like?"

"I don't know," Shikamaru replies as he moves a stone, "This is his first genin team."

"I guess my team will find out tomorrow when we meet him at the third training ground."

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"So the mural is correct?"Hiruzen Sarutobi asks Tsunade, "That Hotaru and Katsuo killed six hundred and thirty shinobi?"

"Not exactly…after years of poisoning themselves, most of them were unable to access their chakra," Tsunade attempts to explain, "The few that were able to access even a minimal amount of chakra were sent out for snatch and grab missions."

"So, they were basically civilians then?"

"No… Hokage-sama, they were highly trained Taijutsu warriors," Tsunade explains, "Fortunately, the two girls chose to make their stand in a small courtyard, which gave their enemy little room to maneuver or overwhelm them."

"Indeed… and Mito…?"

"She was still a hostage at that moment, but when she did become available, she assisted me in giving aid to the other hostages and villagers."

"So who came up with the name… the Shimai?"

"The villagers…" Tsunade said as she scratches the back of her head, "They kept insisting on addressing the three girls that way."

Aki, the owner of the restaurant, softly coughs to gain the parties' attention.

"If anybody would like to partake," Aki says as he motions to the buffet serving tables, "the food is ready."

As everyone slowly queues up for the buffet, Aki approaches the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama… I just wanted to thank you," Aki says with a small bow, "If it wasn't for your fine Kunoichi… my daughter would have never returned to her parents. We thought she was… that we would never see her again, after she went missing years ago."

"Your hospitality is enough," the Hokage replies.

Aki bows once more, before excusing himself to return to his duties.

" _I think life in Konoha is going to be interesting with Tsunade's return,"_ the Hokage thought as he continues watching the room's interactions.

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"Naruto," Hotaru says as she and Naruto stand in the queue, waiting to get something to eat, "If we train together, I might be able to help you with your chakra control."

"I don't know," Naruto said as he thinks about going thru even more training.

"I know it's a pain, but …" Hotaru says conspiratorially, "…think of all the pranks we can accomplish, if you did get at a least a modicum of control."

"Ok, you're on," Naruto says with a mischievous grin. "Let's do this thing," he said as they both laugh and look around with evil intentions in their eyes.


	7. Chapter 7 Dealing with idiots

I do not own any of the characters in this story, except my original characters, nor the world where this story resides.

 **Please** Read  & Review. Just say no to Flaming and Trolling.

" _Thoughts"_

 _(AN: Authors notes)_

 _ **Telepathy/mental jutsu**_

*beep* = Obscene/offensive language

Dealing with idiots and a old man

Chapter 7

The light of the new day greets Tsunade as she strolls thru the village to see the Hokage.

 _"Heh, it was funny seeing the three girls torturing…I mean…training Naruto in the courtyard of the Senju estate this morning,"_ Tsunade thought with a little smile. _"I am especially happy to see Hotaru and Naruto getting along. I was hoping one of the Konoha genin would remember her fondly and befriend her,"_ she thought as she approaches the desk of the Hokage's secretary.

"Can I help you?" inquires Haru, the Hokage's secretary.

"I am here to see the Hokage."

"Yes, he is expecting you. Please be seated. He will be with you in a moment," Haru replies before she returns to her filing.

 _"It'd be easier to see the Daimyo,"_ Tsunade thought as she sits on the waiting room couch.

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Hiruzen just sits and stares at the mountain of paperwork sitting on his desk.

 _"What did I do in a former life to deserve this?"_ the Hokage thought as he stares at his paperwork.

"Your morning appointment is here," Haru said via the office wireless intercom.

" _Thank you Kami for this gift…_ Send her in," Sarutobi offhandedly replies.

"You wanted to see me," Tsunade says after she enters his office.

"I just wanted to update you on the status of your inquiry regarding Naruto's living conditions," Sarutobi mentions as he rises from his desk, turns around and stands staring out of the window behind his desk.

"My godson, you mean," Tsunade says to the Hokage's back.

"Uhm, yes… the council has agreed to find more suitable housing for Naruto- on one condition."

"And that is…"

"That I step down as Hokage and allow someone to replace me," he says with a ghost of a smile.

"Has that civilian council lost what little sense it has?" Tsunade asks as she begins pacing around the room waving her arms in the air.

"I already picked my replacement," he said as he hides his growing smirk, before he turns around to face her.

His tone of voice immediately stops Tsunade's pacing and causes her to turn and face the Hokage.

"Oh, really…" she says as a bad feeling begins to form in her gut.

"I have been ready for retirement for a long time now. Minato was supposed to take my place, as you know…but we know how that turned out."

"So, who did you pick sensei?"

"Remember when you wanted to modify the way we formed our teams… to make teams of four… that way each team would have a medic?" he said in a tone as if he is reminiscing.

"Who did you pick sensei?"

"You…"

"Oh, hell no…"

"So you like Sasuke then?"

"What…?"

"…As a son-in law…?" he said with a look of concern.

"What are you talking about?"

"What I am talking about, is that someone is pushing to enact a clan restoration law. It is getting a lot of movement in the council. They are also pushing for a marriage between your daughter, Mito and Sasuke."

"Can't you do something about it?"

"No…I cannot, and no one else can either- but if you were the Hokage…well…there is always a 2 month honeymoon period, where a new Hokage can take advantage of the village's goodwill and be able to enact whatever they want before someone notices."

"And how will this help me?"

"As the new Hokage and Senju clan head, you can stop the enacting of the new law, the forced marriage, and Naruto gets a new home. Everyone wins," Sarutobi says with a smirk that he is no longer attempting to hide.

"The fact that you will now have more time with your grandson, Konohamaru, and also have more time to read Jiraiya's books, Icha Icha paradise, probably has nothing to do with it," Tsunade says with a growl.

"It's just like I said…everybody wins," he said as he walks around his desk and pats her on her back before he walks over to her office door.

"You drive a hard bargain, old man," she says with a fierce growl, "So should I… or will you inform the council of the change of command?"

"It's already done. I told them at yesterday's meeting that you would start today," he said as he leaves her office and closes the door behind him.

"Haru, send for Shizune, I want to see her in my office immediately!" Tsunade bellows out of the office intercom.

"I think the new Hokage wants to see someone?" Sarutobi tells a shocked Haru, before he walks away to restart his retirement.

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Despite Tsunade wishing otherwise, the sun rises to start a new day in Konohagakure. As its residents quickly go about their day, they ignore the three kunoichi walking down the street towards Hokage tower.

"I wonder why baa-san and kaa-san didn't move us into the Hokage residence?" Kat asks the other two genin.

"Did you expect them to kick Sarutobi-sama out on the street?" Mito snarkily replies.

"Yeah, I can see it now," Hotaru chuckles as she kicks a stone, "Get out of here jiji—who needs you."

"Heh, you're right," Kat agrees, "even the Yondaime didn't do that!"

When the genin see that they are getting closer to the third training ground, they hurry to keep Sensei Gekkō from waiting.

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As Tsunade walks by the Senju library that morning, she sees a clone of Hotaru cackling as she holds up a kunai with kanji writing on the hilt.

"I found you Kunta Kinte…I found you!"

 _"It's too early for this *beep*,"_ Tsunade thought as she shuffles off to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

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All is quiet in the prison cell, as the light of the new day begins to leak thru the prison window that sits high in the wall across from it. In the cell, a giant bear of a man with a black goatee and ponytail stirs on his bunk as the sounds of his younger brother, Raijin, silently weeping awakens him.

"Don't worry brother, it's almost time to eat," Fūjin assures his younger brother.

"Yes, I'm hungry…but that's not why I am crying."

"What else is there to cry about?" Fūjin asks as he looks around their prison cell.

"I miss mama… and our baby sister. Why did that mean snake man have to kill our mama and baby sister?"

"We don't know if she is really dead, or stolen, brother. Remember, we never found her body."

"Yes, I know that's why I keep hoping that we might find her some day," Raijin says as he looks at a blurred picture of a one year old girl wearing a blood red cape.

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As Tsunade leaves for work, she notices two Hotaru clones in the courtyard. One is throwing into the air flickering stones that burst into smoke. The other stops tracing seals in the air in front of her to wave, and say to Tsunade "have fun storming the castle," before resuming her seals practice.

"Just don't blow anything up," Tsunade warns them while returning the wave as she leaves.

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As Hayate Gekkō arrives to the grassy clearing, he notices his genin, team zed, training as they wait for his arrival.

Katsuo is playing tag with her pet dragon, Wraith. She is flying and using her flame breath to pin or corner Katsuo, while Kat dodges and weaves.

Mito and Hotaru are meditating. The huge grin on Hotaru's face is a bit worrying though (Think huge Joker type of smile).

"Hey, I think Jerome has a nice smile," Hotaru grumbles as Hayate approaches the trio.

(What the…how does she know what I'm thinking?)

"You're the author…duh," Hotaru retorts while she looks off into the distance. (WTF…uh, never mind.)

Kat stops dodging, glances at Hotaru in bewilderment, and shares a look with Mito, as she stops meditating. Wraith silently flies up to Kat and slaps the back of the genin's head with her tail.

"Hey, no fair," Kat complains as she rubs the back of her head.

Hayate smirks as he waves them over to him. "Do not blame the dragon. You need to be more aware of your surroundings—especially during combat," he reminds Kat as Wraith flies over and lands on Kat's left shoulder. _"Who knew that a dragon could gloat?"_

"Yes, Sensei," Kat replies as the three genin walks over and sat on the ground in front of their Sensei who is already sitting seiza.

"I've already reviewed the performance reports sent by your previous sensei, Miyahara-san, and the mission reports supplied by our Godaime Hokage," Gekkō informs his team, "and based on that information, I believe we can forgo the usual survival test. Now, as a new team we should introduce ourselves and share some brief information about yourself."

"Like what, Sensei?" Kat asks.

"Hmm, you know…your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and a dream or goal you may be striving to accomplish," Gekkō explains, "I'll start it off…My likes—is training with my katana. My dislikes—wasting time and being underestimated. My dream—is to reach my full potential and to have my own family. Mito, now it's your turn."

"Uhm…likes—to learn and practice what I learn. Dislikes—I agree with you Sensei...I too do not like someone to underestimate me…or devalue me because I am a Kunoichi. And my dream—is to one day discover new treatments that would save many lives."

"I guess it's my turn," Kat replies, "my likes—my family and my friend Wraith. My dislikes—people who feel entitled because of their pedigree. My goal is to find new ways to humble the proud and those with a sense of entitlement."

"I like to do pranks," Hotaru says in turn, "I dislike small minded people, and my dream…is to find the six fingered man who killed my father…or is it the one armed man who violated my dog? I'm sorry Sensei, I keep forgetting."

"Its fine Hotaru, thank you for sharing," Gekkō tries to reassure Hotaru, as he tries to decide if her somber expression is something to worry about. He then hands out small strips of paper and instructs them to push a little of their chakra into the paper. After they do so, Gekkō notices that Kat's paper turns to earth and crumbles away. Hotaru's paper wrinkles before it turns into dirt and crumbles away. Mito's splits in two before one part wrinkles and the other part dampens before getting muddy and starts to crumble before the whole thing explodes in flames and a flash of bright white light like a miniature sun until there is nothing left but ashes.

"Oops, I guess I put too much chakra into it," Mito blushes, as Hotaru sings 'Come on baby light my fire', while everyone else ignores her.

"Well, I've never seen that before," Gekkō replies, as he watches the ashes wafting away from Mito's hand.

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While Tsunade sits at her desk staring at her mounding paperwork, and contemplating whether it would be worthwhile to torch the bureaucratic mess, Shizune enters her office.

" _Thank Kami…a distraction._ Shizune did Jiraiya give you any information about the Minkan no shinryō-sho (AN: civilian medical clinics) that are popping up in the civilian villages throughout Rain?"

"Yes, he told me that they are providing civilians and only civilians with medical treatment. He couldn't find anything that might implicate the clinics. He said that they appear legitimate. The clinics are providing services at a very low cost."

"Did he discover who is backing the clinics?"

"He discovered Shinshi (divine servant), the leader of Manzoku no mura (the village of contentment), formerly known as _Amegakure_ no Sato (the village hidden by rain), is financially backing the venture."

"Her village isn't hidden…what about the ninja that reside there?"

"All of the ninja from her nation has disappeared; he has his suspicions of their status, but has no definitive evidence of their whereabouts. The Shinshi's samurai are providing security for the country."

"What do we know about this Shinshi person?"

"All Jiraiya has been able to find is that she mysteriously rose to the highest position of authority seemingly overnight, and that nobody has questioned her right to rule. He hasn't found out why her title is Shinshi, but that's how her people address her."

"Has one of those clinics opened anywhere in the Fire nation?"

"No, but I will inform you when and where one does open here," Shizune said before Tsunade dismisses her.

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The next two weeks rushes by as team zed completes a number of D-rank missions. The monotony and simplicity of the missions is starting to annoy the three genin. Every day seems to blend into the other.

One morning when Gekkō met the three genin outside of the Academy, they knew that today was going to be different.

"Good morning Sensei," the genin greets Gekkō with a bow.

"Good morning team," Gekkō replies as he returns the bow, "Today, we are doing things differently. Since Mito is going to work in the hospital today, and Hotaru has been given the opportunity to work one day in Konoha's Strict Correctional Facility, Katsuo, you will report to the Nara clan forest and assist Shikamaru tend to his clan's deer. As I escort Hotaru to her assigned duty, I expect the two of you to be on your best behavior."

"Yes, Sensei," the genin answer as they snap to attention.

"Well, off with you," Gekkō orders Mito and Katsuo.

The two genin did not waste any time and are running to their assigned duty stations.

"Come with me," Gekkō says to Hotaru, "let's get you where you're supposed to be today."

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When Mito arrives at the hospital, she finds Shizune waiting outside for her.

"What are you doing here Nee-san?" Mito asks Shizune.

"What I can't come by to work with my younger sister?" Shizune asks a blushing Mito, "It has been a while since we have worked together, so I thought it would be nice to do so today."

"Is being Kaa-san's Personal Assistant getting to you?" Mito asks with a knowing expression, as they turn and enter by the hospital's employee entrance.

"How can you say that, I lo-o-ove being the Hokage's Personal Assistant," Shizune says in a raised voice as a small crowd of personnel walk by them, as she subtly nods yes.

"Ri-ight, so what are we going to do firs…" Mito begins to say before a suddenly appearing Anbu, wearing a cat mask, interrupts her.

"Pardon me, Kojin hisho-san (Personal Assistant)," the Neko Anbu says with a bow, "but Hokage-sama has demanded that you and Mito-san report to her immediately."

"Thank you Neko-san," Shizune says with a bow, "Inform Tsunade-sama that we are on our way."

"Yes," the Neko Anbu replies before disappearing and leaving bunch of swirling leaves.

"It seems that we're going to have an interesting day after all," Shizune replies as she places her hand on Mito's shoulder and shunshins to the Hokage's office.

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When Shizune and Mito arrive at the Hokage's office, Mito notices that there are four Jōnin already inside.

 _"I wonder why kaa-san has Tsume, Asuma, Yamato, and Anko in her office,"_ Mito thought as she silently follows Shizune in the office and stands in the background, while Shizune closes the door.

"Kakashi has sent word that his simple C-rank escort mission has gone totally FUBAR, and became a possible B-rank mission. He has requested assistance immediately," Tsunade informs them.

"So what happened," Shizune asks as she stands before the desk.

"As team seven was escorting the master bridge builder to his home in the land of waves, they were attack twice by missing nin. Kakashi decided to continue the mission, despite having a team of genin with barely any experience," Tsunade grimaces, "On the way to Tazuna's home, the client informed Kakashi that the land of wave had been taken over by a corrupt business man whose name is Gatō."

"Gatō…"Asuma questions, "isn't he that rich shipping magnate and founder of Gatō Company?"

"The one and the same," Tsunade confirms, "he's also the big boss of many illegal smuggling ventures. Eventually, Team 7 arrives at Tazuna's home and starts to provide security for him until he could complete the bridge. Unfortunately, since then, Sasuke has gone missing, and Sakura has been killed in an incident in the village market."

 _"Sasuke is missing and Sakura is dead,"_ Mito thought as she attempts to process the information, _"Who would want him?"_

"Tsume, I want you to lead this team. Your mission is to recover Sasuke, and if necessary, eliminate Gatō. I must warn you that he has hired many mercenaries and may have employed other missing nins," Tsunade informs the Jōnin.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," replies Tsume.

"Anko, I want you to question the prisoners to ascertain the whereabouts of Sasuke," Tsunade orders, "and if Gatō is a sufficient enough of a threat to the Fire nation or our allies that would warrant his removal."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," answers Anko.

"Shizune, I want you and Mito to secure Tazuna's home and guard his daughter, Tsunami, and his grandson, Inari. I am sending you both in case medical attention is required."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," replies Shizune.

"Mito," Tsunade beckons Mito, with a crooked index finger, to walk forward out of the shadows, "You are only there to support Shizune. You will not leave the bridge builder's home to go on some harebrained mission. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Mito replies as she quickly nods her head.

"Oh Shizune…"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama…" Shizune hesitantly answers.

"Inform Kakashi that he will have a lot of explaining to do when he returns to Konoha," Tsunade coolly replies.

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A tall stone bridge, surrounded by a lake of molten lava, connects the main land to an island prison, Konoha's Strict Correctional Facility. The prison is reminiscent of an Imperial class I Star Destroyer. Two figures are crossing the bridge, walking towards the tail section of the "ship" type of prison.

As they reach the door to the Main entrance to the prison, Hayate Gekkō turns to Hotaru Senju.

"Remember, even though this is a D level assignment, do not bring shame to Konoha or to your team," Hayate warns Hotaru while he looks upon Hotaru with pride as he remembers it was she who had somehow cured him of his affliction that enabled him to be able to finally lead a team of genin.

"Yes, Sensei," Hotaru replies as she watches him knock on the door.

Hayate talks to the prison guard, who opened the door, and introduces Hotaru.

"You're lucky to be here Hotaru, most genin don't get a chance to work here, so make the most of it to familiarize yourself with the type of prisoners that you will someday have to apprehend," Hayate said before he turns to walk back across the bridge.

"Whee, lucky me," Hotaru mumbles as she twirls her finger in the air, "Most likely the author is trying to kill me off early so he has less characters to write about."

Hearing her grumblings as he walks away, Hayate merely shakes his head as he says over his shoulder, "I'll be back to pick you up this evening."

 _"Well, Tsunade did warn you about Hotaru's idiosyncrasies,"_ Hayate thought as he recalls Tsunade's briefing when she made him Sensei of Team Zed.

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 _~Flashback, a couple of weeks earlier in Tsunade's office~_

"Why does Hotaru act the way she does?" Hayate asks Tsunade, "Is there something wrong with her?"

"Remember when I mentioned earlier that she had consumed a death pod when she was trapped in that cellar years ago?"

Hayate merely nods.

"A few years ago, when Hotaru first started to act strange, I examined her to see if there was some type of physical abnormality that was causing the problem. What I discovered is that even though her body purged the death pod from her system, a very tiny piece must have migrated into her cranium. It implanted itself in her brain. The death pod is now very much a part of her brain; its roots have completely enmeshed itself into her synaptic network. Somehow, the pod has changed the genetic structure of her brain, and Hotaru's body has changed the pod's genetic structure to make it compatible. So now, it and Hotaru are in some type of symbiotic relationship.

"So that is the reason she acts the way she does," Hayate said in astonishment.

"Yes…she can't help herself."

 _~End flashback~_

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Hotaru looks around the prison cafeteria as she serves another inmate some rice.

 _"When is this line going to end?"_ Hotaru thinks as she looks at how many inmates are left in the line waiting to be served breakfast.

 _"Boy, it sure gets cold in here,"_ thought Hotaru while she pulls her blood red traveling cloak a little tighter around her body. As she reaches for the spoon to resume serving, she notices two of the prisoners acting strangely, whispering to each other as they keep staring at her.

 _"Gee, guys take a picture, it would last longer,"_ Hotaru thought as she kept watch on those two grizzly bear sized prisoners.

When the two prisoners finally stand in front of her, waiting for their serving of rice, they just silently stare at her as she serves them.

After serving the last prisoner, she helps clean the line and then helps with the clean up in the kitchen.

"Do they really need to use all of these pots and pans?" Hotaru mumbles to herself as she scrubs a dirty pot.

Suddenly, a siren wails in the kitchen, and all of the kitchen staff runs to the Dining hall.

"Stay in here and keep the kitchen secure," the kitchen supervisor said as he closes and locks the kitchen door after he leaves the room.

An hour later, as the kitchen staff returns to the kitchen, the supervisor approaches Hotaru.

"Did anyone enter the kitchen while we were dealing with the riot in the Dining hall?" the Supervisor asks Hotaru.

"No, sir I was able to maintain security," Hotaru replies and then whispers, "What caused the riot?"

"According to the Dining hall guards, everyone was quietly eating, when a fight broke out between two inmates. Unfortunately, for one of them, he bumped into Raijin, which caused him to lose something. When his older brother learned what was lost, they both flew into a rage and began to destroy the Dining hall searching for the thing that they lost. Eventually, we were able to get everyone back to their cells. It was only by threatening Raijin and Fūjin with withholding their rations if they didn't return to their cells that they finally relented and followed orders."

"So what did they lose, sir?"

"Nobody was able to find out. The brothers didn't want to talk about it," the supervisor said before he walks away to resume his duties.

 _"Boy, I sure would hate to get in their way when they're upset,"_ thought Hotaru as she resumes washing the dirty pots.

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~Later that afternoon~

Hotaru is walking thru the wards, offering water to the prisoners, when she hears a strange sound, the sound of a prisoner softly crying. The sound leads her to the cell of Raijin and Fūjin.

"Would either of you like some water?" Hotaru asks.

"No," Raijin mournfully replies as Fūjin silently sulks on his bunk.

"Is there anything I could get for you?"

"No, we don't need anythi…" Fūjin starts to say when the rumbling sound of his brother's stomach interrupts him.

"Sister, we're hungry," Raijin quickly implores before his brother could stop him, "We didn't eat because of the fight. Please feed us."

Hotaru didn't know what to think when he called her sister and then asked for food, but his sad puppy dog looks broke her heart.

"I shouldn't be doing this…" Hotaru said as she looks around to see if anyone was paying attention. "Here, catch," she said as she starts pulling wrapped packages of food from the small of her back and throws it to the brothers' waiting hands. She stopped throwing them when she saw that they each had an armful.

"This tastes good," says Raijin as he began to remove the packages' wrappings and eat the items of food, "What are they?"

"Tacos and hamburgers, I hope you like them."

"Thank you sister," Fūjin and Raijin says thru mouthfuls of food.

"You're welcome… brothers," Hotaru says before she turns and walks away.

Raijin eats as he watches Hotaru walk away. "I told you it was her," he said when she was out of earshot.

Fūjin merely smiles and keeps eating.

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It's been a long afternoon for Hotaru, after a long days work, Hayate took her to the ramen stand for a quick meal, while he goes to the Hokage to give his report on his team's progress.

 _"Finally, I can get off of my feet,"_ Hotaru thinks as she sits at the counter of Ramen Ichiraku, _"I thought Sensei_ _Gekk_ _ō would never come and get me."_

When Ayame returns with two bowls of ramen, Hotaru glances around furtively as she wonders when her Sensei is going to return, and if he would miss his bowl.

Just as Hotaru picks up her chopsticks, she feels a strange pull on her body.

"Oh, son of a Bisquick," Hotaru grumbles as she quickly grabs both bowls of ramen just before she is teleported somewhere.

A minute later Gekkō shows up and sits down on a stool next to the one where Hotaru was just sitting.

"Will that be all?" Ayame asks Hayate as she leaves the bill with him.

"What's this for?" Hayate asks as he picks up and examines the bill.

"It is for the two bowls of ramen that Hotaru took with her when she disappeared," Ayame says with a smile before walking away and saying over her shoulder, "Don't worry, I also added on the price of the two clay bowls."

Hayate Gekkō just sat there stunned as he tries to figure out his next step.

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Naruto is feeling bummed right now, as he throws his kunai at a target that he crudely carved into a tree.

 _"*Beep*, first, Sasuke disappears, and then Sakura is killed by some bored idiot mercenary. Now, Four Konoha J_ _ōnin are taking turns tearing_ _Gatō and his merc army apart… that is when they take a break from taunting Kakashi_ _— meh,_ _what else could go wrong,"_ he grumbles to himself before Hotaru suddenly appears in front of him holding two bowls of ramen.

"Naruto," Hotaru growls at her friend, "What the *beep*, I was just about to eat when you yanked me here."

At this point Naruto isn't listening to her, since he is drooling and staring at the two bowls of ramen.

"Eyes up here mister," Hotaru snaps as she raises the bowls near her face, "What did I tell you about the kunai?"

"If you kill someone with this, make sure there are no witnesses," Naruto answers after shaking his head to clear his mind.

"Uh, no before that," she replies as she keeps the bowls out of his reach.

"You touch my *beep* again," a blushing Naruto replies before he flinches and backs up two steps, "and I'll break you."

"No, you baka, but I'm glad you remember that one," Hotaru grumbles before she kicks him in the shin, "That the kunai is for emergencies only."

"Can we eat, while I tell you what is going on?" Naruto begs since he is seriously jonesing for a bowl of ramen.

"You're lucky that you're my best friend," Hotaru replies as she hands Naruto a bowl with a pair of chopsticks, "Now what's got you in a twist?"

As Naruto eats and fills in Hotaru on the everything that has happened so far on this "C"-rank mission, Hotaru wonders why she wasn't brought here sooner.

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As Hayate is paying Ayame for three bowls of ramen and two clay bowls, a hand reaches thru a small glowing portal to place two Ramen Ichiraku clay bowls on the counter with a small note of apology before it disappears.

"Good news, Sensei," Ayame replies as she takes payment for only the three bowl of ramen, "It appears that you will not have to pay for those two clay bowls after all."

As Hayate returns his change to his wallet, he wonders how Hotaru is able to do what she just did.


End file.
